


Grayscale

by Aldermarrow



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions
Genre: Adventure, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Mental Health Issues, Novelization, Originally Posted Elsewhere, Romantic Friendship, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:07:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 107,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25322131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aldermarrow/pseuds/Aldermarrow
Summary: Best friends Hilbert and Hilda set off on their own Pokémon adventure through the Unova region and deal with the fallout of Team Plasma's actions. While they may have their own goals, ideals, and truths, they nevertheless stay with each other through thick and thin. They will be tested, both mentally and emotionally, but they'll always have each other to fall back on.
Relationships: Touko | Hilda/Touya | Hilbert
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. New Mornings, New Opportunities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Pokémon.

I had quite the pleasant dream. I was an established Pokémon trainer, and together with my six partners at my side, we prevailed over the Pokémon league and became the champion of the Unova region.

I was smiling wider than ever before. My partners, who stayed by my side through thick and thin, through sickness and health, were standing proudly beside me as I received a badge from the reigning champion. His face and body were incomprehensible to me, but I knew that he was the champion just from looking at him. Or her?

Their identity didn’t matter to me in my dream; I just knew that I had defeated them in a Pokémon battle for the title of Champion. And I was the one who’d come out on top. The former champion took my trainer ID and ran the front against a scanner. They took my partners’ Pokéballs and placed them into a machine not unlike those you’d find in a Pokémon center to heal your Pokémon. 

On a monitor above the scanner and machine, a projection of my body appeared, with my current outfit. My partners stood beside me, each of them looking triumphant. The projection of myself had an interesting, yet expected facial expression: pride. Yes, I and my partners felt pride in what we’d just done.

The champion returned my trainer ID and the Pokéballs to me. They gave a low bow, not unlike a butler’s, and extended their hands to me for a handshake. Unfettered from the pride I was feeling, I grasped their hand in mine, giving them a firm shake of hands.

The champion and I broke contact and looked into each other’s faces. Though they didn’t have a face, their eyes were still clearly visible. Sharp, piercing eyes that threatened to unveil my every secret and emotion. An expression that could only have been tempered through prevailing over the most perilous of trials with their own partners. Their mouth was still incomprehensible to me, but I could tell they were giving me the slightest of smiles.

The champion began to speak. “Congratulations, Hil--” They said, cutting off my name at the end. “You are hereby recognized as the Unova Pokémon League’s Champion. Will you accept your title?” They asked.

I glanced at my partners. Three of them were in agreement with the former champion, urging me to accept the title. The elemental monkey to my left and one other to my right urged me not to, implying that there was more for me to do. However, my starter, who stood to my right, gave me a knowing look. A look that told me that deep inside, I know what my answer must be.

I nodded at my starter and acknowledged the rest of my partners. It was true: I knew what had to be done for the sake of the Unova region. I looked into the champion’s eyes with a gaze of my own. A gaze not anywhere as all-knowing as theirs, but one tempered through my own trials. Trials and challenges that I would never forget as long as I lived.

Before I opened my mouth to give a reply, I looked back, over my shoulder. My closest companion was there, by the entryway, having just defeated the Elite Four themselves. Like the champion, their figure and face were unclear to me, but I knew that it was them just by looking at them.

They gave me a smile, as if telling me to follow my heart. That I already know what my answer is. I shot them a smile back, to acknowledge their advice and to thank them for all that they’ve done for me. Their starter, who was standing beside them, nodded at my own.

I looked back at the former champion, ready to give my answer. They raised their eyebrow as I looked into their eyes, but it lowered as soon as they saw the look in my eyes. I was ready to give my answer, and they knew it.

I opened my mouth to speak, and gave the champion my answer.

* * *

“Beep! Beep!”

A shrill sound entered my ears. A sound that, though I’d been waking up to it for the past five years of my life, was one that I would never get used to. I groggily opened my eyes and turned my head to the end table beside me, taking a good look at the device making the noise.

“ _Arceus damned alarm clock… I was sure I set it at 9:30 AM. not 5:30._ ” I thought, glaring at my alarm clock. Unfortunately for me, glaring wouldn’t stop its shrill ringing, so I angrily brought my fist down onto the big button on the center of the device. “ _I don’t care if that puts it on snooze or not. I just want it off._ ” I thought, sighing in relief as the alarm clock finally shut up.

I tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. No matter how much I tried to close my eyes, hugged the blanket or tossed and turned, the damage had already been done. “ _It’s useless. I can’t go back to sleep._ ” I thought. “ _Whatever. I’ll get an early start. That dream would have kept me up anyway._ ” I thought as I glanced at the alarm clock. “ _6:30 AM._ ”

I pulled the covers off of my body and slowly placed my feet on the birch floorboards. They creaked as my feet touched the ground, clearly showing its age. “ _I’m going to have to ask mom to get these replaced with wood that isn’t older than she is.”_ I thought, tiptoeing over to the rug on the floor. I walked across the rug and in front of the full body mirror to check myself out.

“ _Hilbert Blake, 17 years old, about to get his first starter Pokémon._ ” I thought. I was wearing a simple, sleeveless black muscle shirt over my torso, and similarly black shorts over my legs. My usual sleepwear. My bushy, dark brown hair was a mess, but that was to be expected. “ _Maybe Cheren was right. I really do wear too much black… but whatever.”_ I thought, sighing to myself. “ _I’m going to have to run to the department store._ ” I thought, pulling at the edge of my shirt.

I made my bed, then slowly made my way downstairs so as to not wake up my mother. I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge, then pulled out a handful of Oran berries. I put one into my mouth and chewed on it, savoring the taste. “ _It’s always a different experience every time. The flavors dance around your tongue, leaving you wanting more._ ” I thought as I chewed on the berry. I swallowed it and let out a satisfied sigh, then put some extra Oran berries into my pocket for later.

The moment I stepped out the door, I was immediately greeted by the bright rays of the morning sun. The rays of the sun shone on our doorstep, perhaps trying to give me a greeting. Unfortunately for the sun, I was in a sour mood from having wrongly set my alarm clock. “ _It’s too bright._ ” I thought, trying to block out the sun with my open palm.

Nuvema Town, in southeastern Unova, was always a sleepy town. It’s not typically a town that people would visit, but it’s a perfect town for people that just want to get away from the world. At an hour like this, however, it was completely deserted, everyone still nestled up in their beds… except for one, unfortunate teenager who set his alarm too early.

I stretched my arms and legs and took a walk around town. Pidove were flying around, chirping as loud as they could. They were singing a song of some kind, or perhaps talking to each other. “ _They look like they’re having fun._ ” I thought, smiling to myself.

I looked up at the flock of pidove. One of them appeared to have noticed my gaze and split off from them, landing right at my feet. I crouched down and gently rubbed the top of the pidove’s head, eliciting a friendly chirp from the Pokémon. A small smile formed at the end of my lips as I took an Oran berry from my pocket. I placed it on my palm and held it out to the pidove, who immediately stuffed the berry into its tiny beak. “You must have been hungry. Eat well.” I nodded at the pidove.

The pidove chirped and flew off, joining its flock. I saw it off, watching the flock fly towards parts unknown. I sighed and stared at my palm where the pidove had eaten from. I recalled the dream I’d had earlier, about becoming the champion. “ _What a flight of fancy._ ” I thought.

I walked towards a bench near the edge of town and sat down. I stared off into the horizon, watching the sun rise. “ _No matter what, the sea never changes._ ” I thought. The waves of the sea were almost rippling in the sunlight, schools of alomomola just barely visible beneath the surface. 

Above the water’s edge, I could see flocks of tranquill flying, looking for a meal. One of the tranquill dove into the water and pulled out a basculin, having found its meal. I sighed as I watched the event happen. “ _Such is the circle of life, I suppose._ ” I thought as I watched the tranquill fly away.

Placing my elbows on my knees and cradling my chin with my palms, my mind slowly drifted to the few friends I have in town.

Cheren Wright. A boy around my age, with black hair and a stern gaze. I’ve known him ever since I moved into Nuvema Town five years ago. As my only male friend here in Nuvema Town, we found ourselves around each other a lot. Our interests often conflicted, however, but we were still good friends.

Bianca Bell. A girl also around my age, with blonde hair and a bright smile. Again, I’ve known her ever since I moved into Nuvema Town, but I suppose we were friends from the moment we met, at her eager insistence. I didn’t hang out with her as much as I was with Cheren, but I suppose that was to be expected.

And then there was-

“Hilbert? Is that you?” A sleepy voice called out from behind me. Sighing, I looked up and back to verify who called out to me.

A girl around my age, with dark brown hair kept in a ponytail and an icy cold, judgmental glare. She was currently dressed similar to myself, though her tank top and shorts were white instead of black. Noticing me turning back, she walked over and took a seat beside me.

“Hilda.” I acknowledged. 

Hilda Whitley. She moved into Nuvema Town around the same time as I did, but before me and my mom arrived. As to whether we were friends…

“You’re up early. I don’t usually see you around at this hour.” She said, yawning. “I doubt anyone’s up at this hour. Even you.” I said. “Yeah, I guess I’m not. I kind of did mess up setting my alarm clock.” Hilda said, sighing. “Really. I did too.” I said. “Guess we’re both exhausted.” Hilda said, sighing. I joined her and we both let out a deep sigh; an elegy to our lack of sleep.

“What time did you sleep last night?” Hilda asked. “You would know. You were at my place until 10 PM.” I said, sighing. “Ehe, I suppose I was. That movie was really good, okay?” Hilda said, smiling. “It was, but it probably wasn’t worth the splitting headache I have right now.” I said. “I guess. My head does feel like it’ll split open any second now.” Hilda said, grasping her forehead.

“Do you usually come here?” Hilda asked. “Yeah. I like the view.” I said. “It’s pretty nice, isn’t it?” Hilda said, taking in the scenery. “Yeah. The view, the ocean breeze… It’s what I live for, I suppose.” I said. Hilda and I sat there in silence, watching the sun rise.

I loosened my body up and reclined on the back of the bench. This naturally raised my head, allowing me to watch the pidove flocks soar across the sky. They seemed to be flying south. “ _Migrating already? That’s early._ ” I thought. Recalling the earlier moment I had with a pidove, a smile formed at the end of my lips. “What are you so happy about?” Hilda said as she looked at me, surprise written all over her face. “Is it that unusual?” The smile immediately left my lips.

“Nothing, it’s just that I could count the amount of times you’ve smiled on both hands.” Hilda joked as she raised both her hands in mock exaggeration. “So, what’s gotten into you? Tell me.” Hilda asked, a gentle smile plastered on her face. “Nothing. Now shut up.” I grunted.

“Come on, you never tell me anything! Come on, please?” Hilda said as she put on the faux-lillipup eyes. While admittedly adorable, they were not enough for me just to ignore how annoyed I was getting. “No, I’m not telling you.” I glared at her, causing her lillipup eyes to look more like scolipede eyes. “Ugh, you’re a jerk.” Hilda said, crossing her arms.

I realized I was being kind of a jerk, though my usual attitude was exacerbated by the time of day. I scooted closer to Hilda and gently placed my hand on her back, below her neck. “...I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a jerk.” I genuinely apologized. I hoped.

“Wh-?” Hilda shot up like a bullet and placed her hand on the place where I touched her. “Don’t go touching people without permission, you weirdo!” She sputtered out, faster than I ever heard her talk before. I stared at her with wide eyes. “I’m… sorry? What’s gotten into you?” I apologized again, this time curious. Hilda’s face seemed to have turned a little red.

“Hilbert Blake, let me spell it out for you. A girl’s nape is one of the most sensitive parts of her body, so having it suddenly touched feelsreallyfreakingweird!” She sputtered out the last part of that sentence so fast I couldn’t even make heads or tails of it.

“I see… in that case, I’m sorry for being a jerk, and for touching one of your most sensitive areas.” I said as I looked into her eyes. Hilda looked incredibly flustered as I said the last part. So flustered, in fact, that she ran away. “Work on your wording next time, you pervert!” She yelled out as she slowly disappeared from view.

I looked at my left hand again, which was coincidentally the same hand I used to feed the pidove. “ _What the hell…?”_

* * *

“ _Unbelievable! First he pisses me off, then he touches the back of my neck, and- urgh! Hilbert really, really pisses me off!_ ” The thoughts raced through my head as I ran away from Hilbert. 

I was already in a pretty terrible mood from earlier. For some reason, my alarm clock bugged out and woke me up way earlier than I’d wanted. “ _Seriously, nobody should be awake at this hour!_ ” I complained to myself. I shook my head and thought about my dream from last night. “ _And it cut my dream off at the good part. I’m never forgiving that dumb piece of plastic._ ” I thought.

I must have run to the opposite edge of town, because I could see the road leading to Route 1. _“Wow… there was grass as far as the eye could see.”_ I could have almost called it beautiful, if it weren’t for the wild Pokémon in the grass. 

I leaned back by a tree, staring at the rustling of the grass. Every now and then, a patrat would poke its head out of a bush, stare at me then scamper away. _“Ehehe… so cute.”_ We were finally getting our starter Pokémon today, so I was super excited. 

I must have gotten so excited that I didn’t notice the lillipup that was right in front of me. I crouched down to meet it at its height. “Aww, you’re adorable! Good morning!” I greeted the lillipup, extending my arm out to pet it.

The lillipup’s tail shot straight up. Within seconds, it was fiercely - but adorably - barking at me. I slowly backed away from the tree I was leaning back on, trying to get away from the lillipup.

“Come on, nice boy… or girl… I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you…” I raised my hands in surrender as the lillipup kept following me, barking all the way. The lillipup, probably having enough, pounced, soaring into my left thigh.

“Ow!” I cried, the pain causing me to drop to my right knee. The lillipup freaking tackled me! I looked back up at it and it was still growling, ready for more. “Good… boy…” I weakly cried at the lillipup as it reared its head for another attack. “ _Ugh, this sucks…_ ” I tried to think through the pain.

The lillipup tackled me again and knocked me over, flat on my back. I could feel my forehead stinging from where it collided. The lillipup was still barking, still ready for even more. “Argh… help… anybody…” I weakly groaned as the lillipup went for the kill.

To my surprise, the lillipup indeed soared off the ground, but in the complete opposite direction from me. Huh?

I opened my eyes and saw Hilbert towering above me, lillipup struggling between his hands. I looked into his eyes, and there were no traces of his angry glare from earlier. Only… concern? “ _Hilbert…?”_

“It’s a good thing I followed the sound of this guy’s incessant barking.” Hilbert said, deeply sighing as the lillipup tried to free itself from his grasp. He gently placed the lillipup back on the ground, where it immediately prepared to pounce. 

“Hilbert, watch ou-” “Don’t worry.” He said, staring the lillipup straight in the eyes.

Hilbert reached into his pocket and brought something out. Blue, spherical… oh, an Oran berry. He placed the Oran berry onto his left palm and gently extended it to the lillipup. The lillipup, still staring at Hilbert, apprehensively walked closer to him and ate the berry out of the palm of his hand.

Hilbert took out another Oran berry. “ _Just how many did he have…?_ ” I uselessly thought. “Want another one, boy?” Hilbert said, his voice gentler than I’d ever heard before. He even seemed to be smiling. The lillipup yipped happily and dug into his palm again, happily munching on the berry. Hilbert affectionately rubbed the lillipup on the head and put his hands in his pockets. 

“Go on, go back to your family. I bet they miss you.” He said, genuinely smiling at the lillipup. It responded with a happy _yip_ and bolted back into Route 1, eventually running into the grass.

Hilbert walked towards me and extended his right hand out to me. “Come on, get up. You’re a mess.” He said. All traces of his earlier happiness were gone, and seemed to be replaced by annoyance. _“Ugh…”_

I begrudgingly took his hand and stood up, dusting myself off. _“Urgh… my leg and head still hurt from where the lillipup tackled me._ ” I thought. Hilbert must have noticed something and took his hand in mine. “Wha-?”

“Let’s go back to my house. I’ll get you patched up.” Hilbert calmly said. “Okay, I get that, but do you really need to hold my hand?! What did I say about not touching people without their permission before?!” I complained. “It’s either that, or I sling your arm around my shoulders. Your leg must hurt a lot.” He gestured towards my leg, which was shivering slightly in pain. “Tell me, which one would both of us rather prefer?” He sneered. I groaned, knowing I didn’t have a comeback.

“If your hand starts to sweat, I’m letting go.”

“You hardly have a leg to stand on, Hilda. Your hand’s been sweating ever since I grabbed it.”

“Shut up!”

* * *

I took Hilda into my house, still holding her hand. I let her sit on a chair by the dining room table, then I went over to the freezer and prepared an ice pack for her leg. “Seriously, this place is just as clean as it was yesterday. Unlike a certain someone’s house…” Hilda said as she placed an elbow on the table, cupping her cheek in her hand. 

“Mother drilled the basics _and_ intermediates of cleaning into my head. Cleaning has become sort of a hobby for me.” I said, scooping some ice out and wrapping it in a towel. “Gee, good housewife much?” Hilda snickered. “And whose house is always a mess?” I immediately shot back.

“Ugh. You know I hate cleaning.” Hilda pouted. “Every time I visit, I want to drop everything I have and clean your kitchen from top to bottom. And that’s not even mentioning your bedroom.” I said. “Ugh, I try to time your visits so that it’s always after the housekeeper cleans up.” She said, embarrassedly looking away. “Not like it matters. You’re in my house practically everyday, you know.” I smirked.

“If my leg didn’t hurt like hell right now, I would have gone over there and smacked you for being a smartass. What happened to that apology?” Hilda complained. “I apologized for being a jerk, not being a smartass.” I snickered, knowing full well how much I was annoying her.

“It’s the same thing!” She slammed her fist onto the table. “Careful, you’ll wake up mother.” I looked up at the staircase. Hilda immediately relented and went back to leaning her elbow on the table. “S-Sorry.” She stuttered out, having experienced the wrath of my mother firsthand in the past. “ _That takes me back…_ ” I thought.

I brought the improvised cold compress over to Hilda and kneeled down in front of her, getting a good look at her leg. “Which leg hurts?” I asked. “My left leg. Now stop staring at my legs, you creep!” She said as she nearly kicked me in the face with her right foot. “Careful there.” I groaned, applying the cold compress onto the spot that looked like a large bruise. “Ugh, that’s cold…” Hilda complained. “Of course it is.” I said. 

“Hold this over your leg. I’ll make us some breakfast.” I said. Hilda took the ice pack from me and held it against the bruise. Hilda immediately perked up. “Mmm, Hilbert’s cooking… truly, food for the soul.” She joked. “Really, could you make that sound any more suggestive?” I said, chuckling. “Whatever. Make us some breakfast!” Hilda said, clapping.

“Coming right up.” I said, heading towards the kitchen.

Soon enough, the smell of freshly cooked food filled the house. I walked back towards the dining table, bringing two plates of rice, emboar bacon and scrambled tranquill eggs. “...You think it’s weird that we eat Pokémon?” Hilda asked, staring at the plate. “Don’t think about it too hard.” I waved it off. “If you say so…”

Gingerly, Hilda took a spoonful of rice and bacon and ate it. I must have been staring, because she stared at me with disgust in her eyes. “Can you not stare at people while they’re eating? Seriously, you’re such a creep sometimes.” She said, in between bites. “I only really get to cook for you and mother. It’s a bad habit.” I said, looking away from her.

“Creepy stares aside… this does taste really good, Hilbert. As good as ever, really. Say, why’d you start to learn how to cook, anyway?” Hilda said as she stared at the plate. “Coming from you, that’s a real compliment.” I said. ” There isn’t really much to do in this town, so I started practicing how to cook. After a while, my mom said my cooking tastes better than hers, so she told me that I’d be the one handling the cooking for our household.” I continued, recalling the memory.

“Hey, you mind if I come over here for dinner every night? Dad’s always busy, and I can’t cook to save my life…” Hilda pouted. I looked her straight in the eyes. “You would make a great wife, you know that?” I deadpanned. “Feminists all around the world just cringed at your joke, you idiot.” Hilda bonked me over the head. “What was that for?” I rubbed the spot where she smacked me.

“Crimes against women. Now hurry, your food’s going to get cold.” Hilda said as she immediately stuffed more food into her mouth. “Usually, the one who makes the meal is the one who says that…” I pointed out, then shoveled some food into my mouth. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just eat!”

“Oh, Hilda? Is that you?” A voice came from the top of the staircase. It looks like my mother woke up. “Good morning, mother. I saved a plate for you in the oven.” I nodded at my mother. “G-Good morning, Mrs. Blake…” Hilda nervously greeted. 

My mother simply laughed. “Nice to see you again, Hilda! What brings you over so early?” My mother asked. “Hilda here got assaulted by a lillipup. I took her here, patched her up and now we’re having a nice breakfast.” I quickly summarized. “You’re leaving out the parts where you were being a total jerk.” Hilda commented, glaring at me. “I also left out the part where you were floored by two tackles of the lillipup.” I glared back. “...Fine.” She looked away. 

My mother laughed again. “Ahaha, seems like nothing’s changed between you two. Always play-fighting!” She said.

“We are not play-fighting!” We yelled in perfect unison, looked at each other then immediately looked away. “Ahaha, sure. I’ll go take a walk outside so as to not disturb your ‘nice breakfast’. See you later!” My mother said as she walked out the door.

“Your mom’s a real peach, you know that?” Hilda said, sighing deeply. “It’s hard to believe I share the same genes as her…” I said, slowly shoveling more food into my mouth. It really did taste good. 

“You know, I don’t mind cooking for you every night. I already do cook lunch for you practically every other day. Helps me practice more, and you get to have a good meal. What do you think?” I offered. “I would be an idiot to say no.” Hilda said, shooting me a bright smile.

We finished our food in silence. Comfortable silence, fortunately.

* * *

I patted my belly. “That was probably the best breakfast I’ve had in years. Seriously, why don’t you tell Cheren and Bianca about this? It’s a shame that only I know.” I asked Hilbert, a big smile on my face. “I didn’t ‘tell’ anyone. I didn’t think it was that interesting until you showed up during lunch one day and demanded you make me something.” Hilbert shrugged. He took the plates and stood up, making his way to the sink. He let running water run across the plates, thoroughly soaking them, then turned the faucet off and made his way back to the table. 

“Ehehe, I guess I did. I don’t regret it at all, though, since your cooking’s always so delicious.” I chuckled. “You’re flattering me. Really, you are.” Hilbert sheepishly turned away. 

“Oh, are you getting embarrassed? Not used to being praised by me, huh?” I put my hands on my hips and grinned. “I’m not used to being praised in general. Especially from you. Now cut it out, you’ll make me blush.” Hilbert said, back still turned to me.

“You’re… physically capable of blushing?” I asked, genuinely curious. “Yes. I am. Though that’s something nobody in this world has ever seen barring myself.” Hilbert said. “Is it because you turn away every time you blush?” I poked at his side, making him jump. “Argh!” He turned back at me, a light pink dusting his cheeks. 

“Haha! I saw it!” I cheered, laughing out loud. “You’re impossible…” Hilbert could only sigh at having been exposed. “Come on, it’s not all bad. Here I thought the only emotions you were capable of were ‘smug’, ‘slight irritation’ and ‘anger’.” I continued, egging him on. “And those are the only three emotions you’ll ever see from me for the rest of your life.” He said, expression forming into a glare.

“ _Urk…_ ” Hilbert’s glare is normally pretty scary, but that one was even scarier than before. “ _Ah, crap, I messed up…”_

Hilbert slowly walked towards me and placed his face directly in front of mine. Our noses were barely touching, and I could feel his breath… _“Oh no, this is bad…”_

Hilbert stared into my eyes and slowly grabbed my shoulders. Resigning myself to my fate, I closed my eyes for what was about to happen. _“I must be blushing furiously right now… urgh…”_ I thought, anticipating the worst.

I felt one hand leave my shoulder. Still keeping my eyes closed, I was awaiting the inevitable… until I felt a sharp pain on my forehead.

“Ow!” I opened my eyes to see that Hilbert flicked my forehead with his finger, smirking all the way. I brought my hand to my forehead and stared at him. “What, were you expecting something else?” He snickered.

“Grr… Don’t play with a girl’s heart like that!!” I yelled out for all to hear.

* * *

“Let’s call it even. We both saw each other incredibly embarrassed. Deal?” I extended my hand towards Hilda. Still blushing, she slowly accepted my hand and shook. “Deal.” 

I checked my watch. “Cheren and Bianca are supposed to arrive here around noontime. It’s 7:30 AM… wanna watch a movie?” I pointed to the TV. “Fine. What do you have?” Hilda asked. “I think we have _Destiny Deoxys_.” I said, walking over to the shelf and pulling out the DVD. “Oh, that one’s a classic. It was set in the Hoenn region, right?” She asked. “Yeah. It sold really well in Hoenn, and unexpectedly in Kalos. Seems that people all around the world just love alien movies.” I mused. “Hey, I do too. They’re awesome.” Hilda said, nodding in agreement with the people all around the world.

“Mind getting the movie ready? I’ll go make us some popcorn.” I said as I tossed the DVD over to her as I went back to the kitchen. “Got it.” She said, then slid the DVD into the player.

Eventually, we sat beside each other in front of the TV, a bowl of popcorn in her hands for some reason. Every now and then, as the movie continued, our fingers would meet from inside the popcorn bowl. Every time it happened, she wore an expression of surprise on her face while I smirked back at her. At one point, I intentionally grabbed her fingers instead of the popcorn, making her yelp in surprise.

“Focus on the movie!” She commanded. 

The movie ended, and the bowl of popcorn was empty. I tossed the bowl of popcorn onto the coffee table and started to stand up. Strangely, Hilda tugged on my arm, beckoning for me to sit back down. “Hm?” I asked.

Hilda looked into my eyes with her trademark faux lillipup eyes. Though this time, they didn’t seem to be faux... “Leaving so soon? We barely get to spend time alone together, you know.” She said, still tugging at my arm. “...The hell do you mean? You’re here everyday. Half the time, I’m cooking lunch for three.” I complained.

Hilda let go of my arm. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. But still, there’s no rush. Wanna read a book with me?” She said. “Or at least, talk about one.” She followed up. “What kind of book?” I asked. “It’s a novel that I read recently. It’s called _The Mysterious Rotom_.” Hilda said.

“Cheren mentioned that in passing the other day. What is it about?” I asked. “It’s supposedly based on a true story back in Sinnoh. A city was facing mysterious power surges, and eventually the city’s entire power grid shut down. Engineers and Pokémon trainers alike tried to figure out what was happening.” She said.

“Sounds like an urban fantasy. I didn’t think you were into those kinds of books.” I said. “If it’s fantasy, I’m probably going to read it. Anyway, without spoiling it too much, the main character - a new trainer - met a rotom and befriended it. All of a sudden, the city’s power came back on, but when the boy and the rotom got into a fight… well, you can get the idea.” Hilda said.

“It’s a book that really gets into the nitty gritty of Pokémon and human relationships. You should give it a read sometime. I’m pretty sure you’d enjoy it.” Hilda said, smiling at me. “Do you have a copy? It sounds like a good way to pass the time.” I said. “Yeah, I’ll lend it to you. Mind lending me a movie in return?” Hilda asked. 

I smiled at Hilda. “Of course. But first things first, we have dishes to wash.” I said. “I’ll try to help out, but I’m not very good at washing dishes. You know this.” Hilda said, sighing.

I blinked and stared at her. “It’s possible to be not good at washing dishes?” I asked, genuinely surprised. “Shut up! Just let me help.” Hilda said, then stood up and went to the kitchen. I chuckled and followed behind her. “ _So headstrong._ ” I thought.

“ _Seriously, how hard can washing dishes be?_ ” I stubbornly thought as I walked to the kitchen. “ _You just take a plate, run it through the faucet and let it out to dry, right?_ ” I thought. “ _There’s no way it can be any harder than that._ ” I tried to reassure myself.

“Alright, what do we have here…” I muttered. There were the two plates we used for breakfast, the two mugs we drank out of, the utensils, and the popcorn bowl which was still on the table. “ _Compared to what we have at my house, this is practically pristine._ ” I thought, my gaze running up and down the sink.

“Wait. Why are they in the sink already? And they’re wet!” I said, Hilbert’s actions from earlier just now sinking in. “You don’t soak your plates at home?” Hilbert said, now standing beside me. “Why would we do that? Don’t wet things smell worse than if they were dry?” I asked.

Hilbert blinked and brought a palm to his forehead. “What’s that for?!” I exclaimed. “Hilda… have you ever done a dish in your life?” He asked. I blushed furiously as I nearly slammed the disk onto the kitchen counter. “Of course I have! Here, let me show you.” I said.

I took a plate and glared into his eyes. He gestured at the faucet, beckoning at me to show him how it’s done. “ _I’ll wipe that smug look off your face._ ” I thought. I turned the faucet on and thoroughly rinsed the plate with the running water. After a thorough rinsing, I placed the plate on the dish rack where it could dry.

“There. Perfect.” I said, puffing my chest out. “Zero out of ten. This dish is practically unsanitary.” Hilbert said, then took the dish back out. “What? Why?!” I shouted. “For one, you didn’t even use dish soap. Two, you didn’t even use your hands. Three, you didn’t even use a sponge.” Hilbert said, enumerating his points on his free hand.

“You need to do that…?” I asked, curious. “You really have never done a dish in your life.” Hilbert said, staring at me disappointedly. “So what if I didn’t?! Urgh, our housekeeper usually does the chores…” I complained. “Right...” Hilbert said, the dish still in his hand. “Dad and I both suck at chores.” I said, sighing.

“Let me show you how it’s done.” Hilbert said, then properly showed me how to properly wash a dish; soap, sponge and everything. “Now it’s your turn.” Hilbert said, then passed the other plate to me. “Okay… I just have to scrub it like this, right?” I said, scrubbing the dish with a freshly-soaped sponge. “Keep going. Then rinse.” He said, gently guiding me along.

Soon enough, the plates, utensils and cups were spotless. Even the popcorn bowl was. “I felt like I learned a lot at the cost of some of my dignity.” I said, deeply sighing as I was hunched over the kitchen table. “Now you can save money on having to hire a housekeeper.” Hilbert said, chuckling. “If you teach me how to mop the floor or clean the windows, then sure. Oh, and laundry too.” I said, smirking at him.

Hilbert looked flabbergasted. “You can’t even do that much?!” Hilbert said. “Kidding. Of course I know how to mop the floor. As for laundry…” I trailed off, grimacing at him. Hilbert looked like he wanted to collapse on the floor right then and there. “...It’s not like it matters. We’re leaving for our Pokémon journey anyway.” He said.

My eyes started to sparkle. “I’m super excited. How about you?” I asked, eagerly looking at him. “Get your face away from me.” He said, placing his hand over my face and shoving it away. “Hey! Jerk.” I complained, nearly headbutting his hand. “I couldn’t care less, really. I’m perfectly fine just staying here in Nuvema Town, but the professor insisted.” Hilbert said.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained, Hilbert. It’ll be fun!” I said, trying to convince him. “I suppose. I guess I do want to see more Pokémon.” Hilbert said. “Eh, it’s a start.” I said, then checked my Xtransceiver for the time. “It’s still 10 AM. You wanna watch another movie?” I asked.

Hilbert suddenly looked interested. “I’ve been meaning to watch this one with Cheren, but could never find the time to. It’s called _Celebi: Voice of the Forest_.” He said. “Oh, that one was a book before it was a movie. I really enjoyed the book.” I said. “Don’t spoil anything for me, okay?” Hilbert said, then made his way over to the living room. “I’ll try not to. Try not to cry, okay?” I teased.

Hilbert rolled his eyes.

* * *

I checked my watch. _“11:55 AM…”_

We had just finished watching the movie. Contrary to what Hilda had said earlier, it was she who had broken down in tears. “That ending always gets me. This twist at the end…” Hilda said, then started crying again. Admittedly, a few tears fell down my own face at the end. “It was really good. I’m glad I got to watch it.” I said, wiping away a few tears.

Hilda snagged a tissue from the table and blew her nose into it. “The movie adaptation really did the book justice. Visualizing it in your head and seeing it on the screen give you such different experiences…” She said, blowing her nose again. “I’m amazed they managed to get professor Oak as an actor for this movie. Or was that just someone acting as the professor?” I said.

“It looked like the real deal to me. You can’t flip through the channels on the TV without seeing professor Oak’s face appear at least once. It must have been a high budget movie.” Hilda said. “I suppose.” I replied, throwing a tissue into the bin.

“What Pokémon do you think we’re going to get?” I asked. “Hmm…” She mumbled, putting a finger to her chin. “From what I’ve been reading, starter Pokémon are typically grass, fire or water types. So maybe we’ll be getting the elemental monkeys? You know, pansage, pansear and panpour.” Hilda mused.

I shrugged. “I suppose so. Those three are pretty rare Pokémon though. Do you think they’ll be comfortable giving them to us rookie trainers?” I asked. “Hey, they aren’t the rarest Pokémon out there. I hear there’s an even rarer trio of grass, fire and water types here in Unova.” Hilda said, in between sniffles.

“Hm, let me guess.” I said. “Snivy, tepig and oshawott. Those three - and the rest of their evolutionary line - have been targets of poachers due to their rarity and strength upon evolving.” I continued.

“Yeah, those three.” Hilda said, looking at me and nodding. “Cheren says that they can’t be found in the wild anymore due to how endangered they are as a species. Pokémon welfare organizations are apparently caring for them, making sure that their species stays alive.” She continued, looking down at the tissue.

“I didn’t think the situation was that dire. Doesn’t seem like we’ll be getting those three.” I said, sighing. “The elemental monkeys may be rare, but at least they aren’t endangered.” Hilda said, giving a mild shrug. “Though, now that I think about it…” Hilda placed her finger on her chin again. “There are four of us, and three monkeys. What’ll the fourth one be?” Hilda asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve heard stories of trainers in the Kanto region receiving Pokémon that aren’t of the starter types, but I doubt they have anything like that in Unova.” I said, recalling the shows on TV. “Oh, really? Like what?” Hilda asked, looking straight at me. 

“If I remember correctly… It was an electric type. A pikachu. Another trainer received an eevee.” I said as I crossed my arms. “An electric type? That sounds pretty cool.” Hilda said. “Oh, I’ve heard of eevees. They’re supposed to be really weird and cool, right?” She asked.

“Eevee are kind of special. They start as normal types, but their unstable genetic makeup allows them to evolve into several different forms. From what I recall, three were originally discovered in the Kanto region, where eevee are native to, but two more were discovered in the Johto region. Following that, another two forms were discovered in the Sinnoh region, and another one was found in the Kalos region.” I explained.

“Ooh, that’s interesting. Do you think we’ll get an eevee, then?” Hilda asked. “I doubt it. Every Pokémon that you can find in Unova is native to the region. We are quite a ways away from every other region, you know.” I replied. “Though, I guess that won’t be true for long…” I said.

“I guess that’s true. The boat ride here from Sinnoh took weeks.” Hilda said, sighing as she recalled the memory. “The boat ride from Hoenn took even longer. I spent a month on that damned boat, and half of it vomiting…” I shivered as I remembered my poor mother having to clean up after me.

“Hey, what did you mean by ‘that won’t be true for long’?” Hilda asked. “I saw something on TV. Apparently the Poké Transfer Lab off in eastern Unova is going to be bringing in Pokémon from other regions into Unova. There have also been reports of fishermen fishing up Pokémon that aren’t native to our region as well.” I said.

“You’re up to date. Do you think that we’ll find Pokémon that aren’t from here on our journey?” Hilda asked. “We might. Though, the Poké Transfer Lab is pretty far away. I think it’s just east of Opelucid City.” I said. “Opelucid City… that’s so far away. I guess we might not end up finding any, huh.” Hilda said, pouting. 

“You don’t really strike me as the type to get motion sickness, Hilbert.” Hilda said, looking down at my stomach. “Because I don’t get motion sick anymore. A month on a boat through stormy waters will do that to you.” I said, sighing. Hilda giggled. “It’s nice having these conversations with you, you know.” She said, smiling at me. “I feel the same.” I said, smiling back.

“Well, well, well. Someone’s pretty early.” A voice came from the door. I looked over and saw Cheren walking in. “Cheren.” I acknowledged. 

Cheren crossed his arms and adjusted his glasses. “Again with the curtness, Hilbert? Would it kill you to at least be excited for today?” He scoffed. “Coming from you, that’s rich.” I shot back. Cheren simply shrugged.

“Come on, you two. Save the fighting for when you get your Pokémon, okay?” Hilda said while giving us a scary smile. I gulped, and Cheren uncrossed his arms. “Fine. Hilbert, I’m challenging you to a battle later.” Cheren said as he pointed his index finger at me. “Gladly.” I pointed back.

“Say… where’s Bianca?” Hilda asked as she looked at the door. “Bianca’s off at the lab, getting our Pokémon. Professor Juniper will be with us after we’ve chosen. Seems she wants to leave this to us.” Cheren explained. “How… responsible of her.” Hilda groaned. 

“You’re pretty early, Hilda. Usually you’d be the last to arrive.” Cheren said, smirking. “We’re getting our starter Pokémon today. No way I’d be late for that!” Hilda replied in earnest. “I suppose so. You and Hilbert seem really comfy over there, though.” Cheren pointed to our close proximity on the couch. 

Instead of embarrassedly shuffling away, Hilda simply stood - er, sat - her ground. “Anything wrong with that?” She said while accusingly glaring at Cheren. “Nothing. Now, let’s head up to Hilbert’s room. “ Cheren said, making his way over to the staircase.

“Why my room?” I complained. “What, you afraid we’ll see your dirty magazines?” Cheren said, giving me a smirk. Hilda leered at me. “Don’t worry. I always make sure to hide them.” I said, practically feeling Hilda’s glare searing into the side of my head. “Hilbert…” Hilda muttered. I felt a strange killing intent emanating from her. “ _Maybe this isn’t something I should joke about._ ” I thought.

“Anyway, let’s wait for Bianca in Hilbert’s room. Let’s go, you two.” Cheren gestured over to the staircase, and the three of us went into my bedroom.

* * *

“Seriously, Hilbert, do you live in this room? Every time I come here, it’s always spotless! For a boy’s room, this place is way cleaner than it has any right to be.” I commented, looking around Hilbert’s room. “Should I bring up earlier, when you called me sexist?” Hilbert said. “...Sorry.” I apologized.

Cheren took a seat by the desk. “Though I hate to admit it, this place is even cleaner than my room. Good work, Hilbert.” Cheren said. “Why do you hate to admit it?” Hilbert complained. “Don’t worry about it.” Cheren waved off.

Hilbert sighed and took a seat on his bed. It seemed to have been freshly made. He leaned back against the wall, propping his legs up on the bed. “Take a seat, Hilda.” Hilbert said to me. “Where?” I said, looking around for any possible place to sit down. “Either on the floor, or beside me. Take your pick.” He said, sighing. “ _He seems to sigh a lot around me._ ” I thought. “Fine, scooch over.” I said, prompting Hilbert to move.

Hilbert shifted himself slightly to the left. I took a running start and jumped onto his bed, plowing straight into the comforter. “I just made this bed…” Hilbert said, bringing a palm to his face. “So comfy… your comforter is so soft.” I said, rubbing my face all over the comforter. “That’s because I just washed it the other day. It was starting to smell.” Hilbert said, running his open palm across the comforter.

I looked up at him. “What does your mom do around the house if you cook, clean and do laundry?” I curiously asked. “She works, of course. We need money somehow.” Hilbert said, stating the obvious. “I guess.” I replied, shrugging.

Cheren coughed. “Hilbert being an outstanding housewife aside… I suppose it’s been a while since any of us have visited your room.” He continued. “Mm. It’s usually me who visits your and Bianca’s houses.” Hilbert said, nodding in agreement. “And even then, you don’t visit too frequently. Always off doing your own thing.” Cheren said, giving the slightest of laughs.

I elbowed Hilbert and whispered to him. “Does Cheren know I come to your house all the time?” I whispered. “Maybe. I don’t know. It never came up.” He whispered back, giving me a shrug.

I looked at Hilbert, then Cheren, then back at Hilbert. “Huh… I guess this is the first time in a while that the four of us have gotten together. Really makes you think.” I pointed out. “That’s probably because Bianca’s usually out helping Professor Juniper, you’re out socializing with the others in the town, and Hilbert… was apparently being a housewife.” Cheren summarized. 

“I make one wife joke and I get hit on the head for it, and you two can make all the housewife jokes you want…” Hilbert sulked. “Fine. Hilbert,” I pointed at him, “Was too busy being a good homemaker. Happy?” I said, attempting to placate him. “Eh.” He mumbled.

“Seriously, Cheren, you need to try Hilbert’s cooking sometime. I had the absolute best breakfast of my life earlier.” I said, smiling and rubbing my belly. “Breakfast? Just how long have you been here?” Cheren said as he raised an eyebrow. “Since this morning. Why do you ask?” I said. 

“Never mind.” Cheren said, frowning. “Whatever, at least you two aren’t at each other’s throats this time. Arceus knows how loud and annoying your arguments can get.” He continued.

“In my defense, it’s usually Hilda who gets loud.” Hilbert said, turning to me with a smirk. “And whose fault is that?!” I angrily replied, slamming my fist into the comforter. “I don’t tell you to get mad. You get mad all on your own.” He continued. “ _Ugh! He’s egging me on again._ ”I thought. “Grr…” I growled, glaring at Hilbert with all my irritation. He seemed to have gotten the hint and lowered his arms. “Sorry, I just wanted to tease you.” Hilbert said as he gently laughed. “You’re the worst, you know that?” I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest.

Cheren stared at us, his glasses nearly falling off his face. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“S-Sorry I’m late!” A shrill shriek rang through the house, eventually making its way to Hilbert’s room. The door slammed open, greeting us to the sight of an incredibly winded Bianca carrying a duffel bag.

“You came just in time. These two idiots were about to have a go at each other again.” Cheren said, sighing as he pointed at us with his thumb. “No we weren’t!” Hilbert and I said in unison. “Hey, that’s my line!” I said, glaring at Hilbert. “No, I believe it’s mine.” Hilbert said, glaring back at me.

Cheren let out the deepest sigh either of us have heard today. “Let’s just get on with it. It’s time to get our starter Pokémon, after all.” Cheren said. “Let’s not waste any more time.” Hilbert said, nodding in agreement with Cheren.

“By the way… what made you so late, Bianca?” I asked. “Oh, it’s about the starter Pokémon. See, there was a bit of an issue…” Bianca said as she walked over to the desk and set the duffel bag down. “An issue?” I said, raising an eyebrow.

“See, there are four of us, and typically starter Pokémon are given out in three. Professor Juniper only realized it last night, so she made an emergency request for a fourth starter Pokémon to be delivered.” Bianca explained while taking out four Pokéballs. 

“A fourth?” Hilbert asked. “Yeah! Apparently, this Pokémon is pretty rare. Not as rare as the other three, though, but rare enough.” Bianca said. 

“Well, let’s see them.” Cheren said, gesturing towards the Pokéballs.


	2. Leaving the Nest

I looked at the Pokéballs in front of us. Inside them would be our partners for our entire journey as trainers. Which one were we going to get…?

"Hilbert, since this is your room, you get first pick." Bianca said, looking at me. "Hm?" I questioned. "That seems fair. Think of this as an apology for me bugging you all day." Hilda said, giggling. "Poor Hilbert..." Cheren trailed off, then sighed.

I shook my head. "Sorry, but I'm not fond of preferential treatment. How about we let chance decide?" I offered. "Chance? So you want us to pick one at random?" Hilda asked. "You think that leaving it up to chance is the best way for us to decide who our Pokémon will be?" Cheren asked, a scowl slowly forming on his face. Bianca looked nervously at him.

I shook my head again. "There's no doubt all of us will be excellent trainers, no matter who our starter Pokémon is. That being said, you're all more than welcome to pick who you want. I'm fine taking the one who wasn't picked." I said, giving them an ultimatum.

"Wait, wait. We're getting ahead of ourselves. We don't even know who the starter Pokémon are!" Hilda complained, pointing at the Pokéballs. "Then let's find out. Bianca, if you would do the honors?" Cheren said, looking over to Bianca. "Right, let's bring them out."

Bianca walked over to the Pokéballs and released the Pokémon, one by one. In front of us were…

A green, snake-like Pokémon with tiny feet and leaves for arms.

An orange, pig Pokémon with a curly tail and a red nose.

A blue, otter-like Pokémon with a yellow shell on its abdomen, and…

A white, tadpole-like Pokémon that seemed much smaller than the others.

"Whoa… Hilbert, can you believe it? Professor Juniper found the rarest Pokémon in Unova for us!" Hilda cheered, painfully latching onto my arm. "Ow! Let go!" I complained, but she refused to let go. " _Damn, she has an iron grip…_ "

"Interesting… a snivy, a tepig and an oshawott, as well as a tynamo. All exceedingly rare Pokémon in the wild. It seems Professor Juniper has a lot of friends in the several Pokémon welfare organizations around Unova." Cheren observed.

"Hmm… how about this." Bianca spoke up, causing us to look at her. "If Hilbert doesn't want to pick first… how about we let the Pokémon themselves pick?" She continued.

"That seems fair to me." I said as I kneeled down. "Well then, the four of you can approach any one of us. Whoever you approach will be your partner for life. Deal?" I said, allowing myself to smile at the four Pokémon in front of me.

The snivy looked away from him, but seemed content. The tepig nodded furiously. The oshawott gave a shy thumbs up. The tynamo seemed skittish, but sparked in what I assume to be agreement.

"Any objections, Cheren? It seems like they agree." I said while looking at Cheren. "If that's what they want…" Cheren replied.

The tepig slowly made its way by Hilda's feet, while the snivy confidently strutted over to Cheren. The tynamo looked between myself and Bianca, and eventually floated over to the blond haired girl. As for the oshawott…

"Hey, buddy. Wanna be my partner?" I kneeled down to match the oshawott's height. " _Ghh-?"_ I felt my head sting, and realized the oshawott was now holding its scalchop. "Did… did you hit me over the head?" I asked. The oshawott growled at me. "Osha…!"

"If I did anything to offend you, I'm sorry. I just wanted this to be fair for all of you." I apologized. The oshawott put its scalchop back onto its chest, and looked down. "Osha…" It mumbled. "Are you… apologizing?" I looked up at the oshawott, replying with a slow nod.

"Here." I took an Oran berry out of my pocket and held it out to the oshawott. Slowly, it went over to me and nibbled on the berry. "Did you like that?" I asked. "Wott!" The oshawott nodded. "I'm glad to hear it. I'm Hilbert. Your new partner." I held my hand out for a handshake, and surprisingly the oshawott shook my hand. "Oshawott!"

Everyone was staring at me in amazement, except for Hilda. "Hilbert, I can already tell you'll be a great trainer." Cheren said, mouth agape. "Why is that?" I asked. "...No reason." He said as he looked away. Oshawott and I looked at each other and shrugged.

I looked around the room. The tepig seemed to be curled up at Hilda's feet. The snivy was standing beside Cheren's legs, crossing its leaves. The tynamo was gently floating above Bianca's lap. "Hilbert…" Hilda spoke up. "Hm?" I grunted. "How many Oran berries do you have stashed in your pockets?" She asked, staring at my pocket.

I pulled a whole handful of Oran berries out. "Not that many. Pokémon like to snack on them, and I do too." I said, tossing an Oran berry to Oshawott. It gulped it up in one go. Hilda simply stared at me. "Hilbert, are you a Pokémon?" She deadpanned. "What?" I asked, then tossed an Oran berry into my mouth. " _Yum._ " I thought, savoring the taste. Hilda stared at me, slack-jawed. "Never mind. Forget I said anything." She said.

"Oh, yeah. Professor Juniper told us to give our Pokémon nicknames." Bianca said. "Nicknames? That is one way to increase your bond with a Pokémon, according to some studies." Cheren said.

Cheren stood up. "Very well. Snivy, I'm going to nickname you 'Crown'. Is that fine?" Cheren declared. Crown looked up at him, crossed its leaves and nodded. Cheren nodded back.

"Okay, then… Tynamo," Bianca said, looking down at the tynamo. "I'll be calling you Jolts, from now on. What do you think?" Jolts looked up at Bianca and happily sparked. "That's great!" Bianca giggled.

Hilda looked at Cheren and Bianca. "You can really tell their personalities just by their Pokémon's nicknames…" She said. The tepig looked up at her and tilted its head sideways. "Oh, you're adorable! I think I'll call you… wait, are you a boy or a girl?" Hilda quizzically asked.

"I feel like it's the trainer who's supposed to answer that question. Rather, a professor." I deadpanned. "Oh, shut up. So can you tell?" Hilda asked. The tepig pointed towards Bianca. "I guess it's a girl, seeing as she's pointing to Bianca." I guessed. "That works. Anyway, I think I'll call you Smokey." Hilda said, rubbing Smokey affectionately on the head.

"I suppose it's my turn now. Oshawott, I would like to call you Blade. How does that sound?" Blade took the scalchop from its chest and raised it in the air. " _It seems it agrees."_ I thought. Blade pointed to Cheren, indicating that he is male. I nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hilbert, it's time." Cheren pointed at me, while Crown pointed at Blade. "I challenge you to a Pokémon battle!" I looked at him in shock. "Here? In my room?" I looked around my room. "I want this done as soon as possible, so yes, here." Cheren said, as Crown took a fighting stance.

I sighed. "Fine, but only if you agree to my terms." I said. "Name them." Cheren replied. "There're four of us here right now, so let's make this interesting. How does a double battle sound? Me and Hilda, against you and Bianca. Does that sound good?" I declared.

"A double battle? Fine by me. Hilda. Bianca. Are you two up for it?" Cheren asked the two girls. "Let's do this!" Hilda and Smokey jumped off the bed and took their spots beside me. "Okay.. let's go!" Bianca stood up, while Jolts floated down near her feet.

Blade and Smokey glanced at each other, acknowledging the other's presence. Crown and Jolts did the same, though Jolts seemed exceptionally terrified. If snivy could sigh, then Crown sure took after its partner.

"I'll make the first move. Crown, use Leer!" Cheren shouted, pointing at Blade and Smokey. Crown narrowed its eyes and glared at the two, causing them to stumble backwards in fear.

"Two can play at that game. Blade, whip your tail at them!" Blade turned on his heel and faced his back towards his opponents, adorably wagging his tail at them. Crown and Jolts must have found it adorable, as Crown's unrelenting glare lightened up.

"Jolts, go ahead and tackle Blade!" Bianca nervously commanded. Jolts looked up at her and floated full speed towards Blade. "Not if I can help it! Smokey, use ember and blast her out of the air!" Hilda shouted. Smokey didn't even acknowledge Hilda, immediately breathing in and sending a torrent of small flames across my room. "Oh my Arceus, my room!" I said.

The embers, while centralized, managed to escape from the torrent and spray out onto the floor. Within seconds, the birch floorboards started to burn, smoke rising from them. "Argh! Blade, fire a water gun on the floor! Don't let my room burn down!" I frantically commanded. Blade breathed in and spouted a strong water gun onto the floor, putting the fire out.

"Time out!" I said, shouting. "No attacks that can flood my room, burn my room down, cover it in foliage or short circuit our entire power grid, alright?!" I shouted. Everyone in the room nodded at my demand. "Thank you. Back to the battle!" I said.

"Sorry, Hilbert. Smokey, meet it headway with a tackle!" Hilda said. Jolts was still trying to tackle Smokey even through the ember, so Smokey tackled Jolts out of the air, making them both collide into the wall. Cheren had to shuffle to the left in order to avoid getting hit. The wall cracked from the impact. Smokey and Jolts limped out from the wall, both of them struggling to regain their balance. "Urgh… my wall." I loudly complained.

"Worry about that later. Quick, tackle him while he's distracted!" Cheren ordered. Crown took the opportunity to slam into Blade, knocking them both into my desk. I had to jump away, or else I would have been caught in the crossfire. "Oh Arceus…" I complained even louder.

"Suck it up!" Hilda smacked me on the back, perhaps for me to regain my composure. "Ow! Sorry. Blade, counter with your own tackle!" I said. Blade regained his footing and tackled Crown with full force, sending the snivy flying across the room into my door. Bianca had to swerve her head out of the way to avoid getting hit. "Careful!" She yelled.

"Okay! Jolts, try to tackle Smokey again!" Bianca said. Jolts tackled Smokey at point blank, sending the tepig careening across the room with more force than a Pokémon of its size should be able to apply. Smokey managed to regain her balance, but she was panting now. "Don't take it lying down, Smokey! Retaliate with another tackle!" Hilda loudly commanded. Smokey dashed across the room and slammed into the wall again, taking the tynamo with it. Both of the Pokémon fell out from the cracks in the wall, though it seemed as though Jolts fell to the floor.

"Jolts!" Bianca ran over to Jolts to check on it. "Oh, she's still breathing…" Bianca sighed in relief. "You did well, Jolts. Thank you." Bianca said, smiling as she returned Jolts back into her Pokéball.

Cheren looked at Bianca and sighed. "Now it's a two on one… I'm at a severe disadvantage here." Cheren grunted. "Very well. Crown, change targets. Focus your attacks on Smokey!" Cheren ordered as he pointed towards the tepig. " _He must have noticed that Smokey is damaged more than Blade… he's trying to take the weaker one out first, to level the playing field. In that case…_ "

"Blade, intercept its attack! Take its tackle at all costs!" I said. Blade looked at me confusedly, then realized what I was going for. He ran across the room, hoping he'd take the attack for Smokey. "Hilbert, what are you doing?" Hilda asked me, concern in her eyes. "Smokey's hurt a lot more, so Blade's going to take the hit for you. Then afterwards…"

I could barely finish my sentence before a crash resonated around the room. Blade successfully intercepted Crown's attack, taking the tackle full force. Both Pokémon were knocked into the wall, leaving another hole in their wake. I bit my lip to avoid complaining again. Bianca had to jump out of the way to avoid getting slammed into the wall too.

"Quick, while they're down! Smokey, finish Crown off with one last tackle!" Hilda said, pointing at the snivy. Smokey immediately slammed into Crown, sending them both barreling towards my TV. The impact broke the TV on impact, leaving a tepig-and-snivy shaped hole in the liquid crystal display. I must have drawn blood from biting my lip, because there was now a faint metallic taste in my mouth.

Smokey and Crown fell from the TV, both exhausted. They both fell flat on their backs, unable to go on. Blade re-emerged from the wall, staring at the pair.

"We… won? We won!" Hilda cheered as she hug-tackled me from the side, knocking us both on my bed. "Hey, get off!" I said, trying to push her away.

Cheren sighed and returned Crown to his Pokéball. Raising the Pokéball to his hand, he spoke. "You performed admirably, Crown. We just need to train more." Cheren said to Crown.

Blade and Smokey walked up to us and jumped onto the bed. Blade sat on my chest, while Hilda sat up and put Smokey on her lap. "Amazing work, Blade." "Good job, Smokey!" We praised our Pokémon. I took two Oran berries out, gave one to Hilda and the other one to Blade, who eagerly ate it up. Hilda fed the Oran berry to Smokey, who dug into it with gusto.

"You all did great!" Bianca said to all of us. "That was a battle I'm never going to forget." She said, giggling. "Yeah, that was a lot of fun!" Hilda said, hands on her hips. "So this is what being a trainer's like… Ehehe, our adventure's going to be awesome!" She proclaimed.

Setting Blade down beside Hilda, I stood up and walked over to the TV. I narrowed my eyes and darkened my expression, glaring at the trio who trashed my room. "My room was spotless before this. Now it isn't. You're all going to help me clean." I said, emotion absent from my tone.

The three of them awkwardly laughed, and quickly shut up as I glared at them again.

"We'll start with all the drywall that's scattered on the floor. Cheren, get the broom." I said to Cheren, making sure he heard each and every word.

"Y-Yes sir." He ran out of my room, looking for a broom. "I've never seen Cheren so scared before…" Hilda gulped. "As for you two… you can help by picking up everything that's fallen onto the floor." I said to the girls, glaring at them all the while.

"O-Of course!"

* * *

" _Urgh… Hilbert's such a slave driver._ " After what felt like hours of cleaning the mess we made, we finally managed to reasonably tidy things up. Only things we couldn't fix were the cracks in the wall and the broken TV. Hilbert, seeing that it was good enough, went downstairs to the kitchen to prepare some snacks for us.

I plopped onto Hilbert's bed and snuggled up in his comforter. "Ahhh, I've never had to do that much cleaning ever in my life. How does Hilbert do this without wanting to stop every five minutes?" I loudly complained to Cheren and Bianca, who were resting in the room.

"Maybe because he's used to it?" Bianca offered. "Or maybe he's a masochist." Cheren countered. "Could be both." I added. The three of us laughed at Hilbert's expense.

"You're getting real comfortable over there, Hilda." Cheren said. "Who, me? Come over here. His comforter's freshly washed, so it smells and feels amazing." I said, pouting. "I guess it can't hurt to try." Cheren said as he walked over and laid down on the bed. "You weren't kidding. This feels heavenly." Cheren admitted, burying his face in the comforter. "Ooh, I wanna try, I wanna try!" Bianca exclaimed, running over to us and plowing headfirst into the bed. "Mmm… it's so soft and warm! And kind of smells like Hilbert's cologne." Bianca pointed out. "Huh, I guess it does. Well, that's to be expected, since he sleeps on this." I replied.

Cheren lifted his face from the comforter and looked straight up. "Alright, Hilda, I'll get straight to the point. Is there something going on between you and Hilbert? You two have been friendlier to each other than I've ever seen before." Cheren said, accusingly glaring at me. "What are you talking about?" I asked, confused. "I'm pretty sure Hilbert and I are always kind of friendly." I said.

Bianca sighed. "It'd say it's about fifty-fifty." She said. "Really? That little?" I asked. "Seventy-thirty on a bad day. Which is almost all the days." Cheren said. "But today was different, though." He continued.

"Snuggling up in his bed, tackling him onto said bed, and - get this, Bianca - spending your entire morning with him." Cheren recounted. "She did?" It was Bianca's turn to stare at me. "Wow, that's amazing… Hilbert's mom must have been so angry at all the noise you two must have made." Bianca innocently said.

"Wording is important, dear." I said as I gently stroked Bianca's cheek. She didn't seem to understand, so I let it go. "Anyway, nothing's going on between us. Is it wrong for us to act friendly to each other? Like, you know, friends?" I complained. "Well, when you put it like that, sure. But I feel like you two have been acting closer than friends today-" "On what basis?!" I cut Cheren off. "Seriously, I'm getting real annoyed now. We're just friends. Come on!" I barraged Cheren. "O-Okay, I'm sorry." He stuttered out an apology. "Hmph!" I huffed, and went back to rubbing my face all over Hilbert's comforter.

Cheren stared at me, wide-eyed. "It's amazing she can say all of that and still do… that." He said, which I pretended not to hear. Bianca simply grimaced.

Hilbert walked into the room, carrying a tray of sandwiches. "I could hear you guys from downstairs. What were you talking about? And why are you all on my bed?" Hilbert said as he placed the tray on his desk. "It's super comfy. Can you do my laundry too?" I said as I lifted my face from the comforter. "No. I said I'd only cook you dinner." Hilbert said, eliciting a gasp from Bianca and a stare from Cheren. "I'm not even going to bother." Cheren crossed his arms and sighed.

Over on the other side of the room, our four starter Pokémon were getting to know each other. Blade, Smokey and Jolts seemed to be chatting it up, whereas Crown was resting a couple meters from them.

"Hey, look at them. They're getting along! Except for, well…" I trailed off. "Crown's resting. He's a bit tired from the earlier battle. Getting slammed into a TV hurts, no matter what Pokémon you are." Cheren explained. "Guess so." I conceded.

"Your snacks are on the table, as 'payment' for cleaning my room. By the way, Professor Juniper came over and told me to tell you guys that we have to be at the lab by 4 PM." Hilbert explained. He picked up a sandwich and took a bite.

"If you're going to pay me with food, I'll do literally anything you want." I said as I sunk my teeth into a sandwich. "Mmm… so good…" I moaned. Cheren raised an eyebrow. "So what was that about wording?" He deadpanned. "Shut up and eat!" I said, then took a huge bite out of my sandwich.

We ate our sandwiches in silence and shared some with our partner Pokémon. Eventually, the clock struck 3:30 PM, and it was almost time to go to the lab.

"Alright, let's go, everyone. We don't want to keep Professor Juniper waiting. I'll head back to my house first to change." Cheren said. He recalled Crown to his Pokéball and left the room. "Right. I'll stop by home too. See you guys there!" Bianca said, also recalling Jolts to her Pokéball, leaving the room shortly after.

I looked over at Hilbert as I was standing at the doorway. "See you later." I said, waving at him. He waved back at me and lied down onto his bed. "See you." He curtly replied. I closed the door to his room and furrowed my brow.

" _Damn that Cheren… acting like he knows everything. Pisses me off._ " I thought, then stormed out of Hilbert's house.

I walked out the door to Hilbert's house. Smokey was out of her Pokéball, trailing slightly behind me. I looked back at her and gave her a bright smile, and started walking towards my house.

The afternoon sun was pretty intense. I was sweating a lot, though I wasn't sure how much of it was from the sun, or from the battle. Placing a finger to my chin, I ran through everything that happened so far.

" _Assaulted by a lillipup, eating breakfast and watching a movie with Hilbert, getting our starter Pokémon and winning our first ever battle… today was a really eventful day. And it's barely even started!"_ I thought to myself, allowing a small laugh to escape my lips. Smokey looked up at me and tilted her head adorably to the side.

"Oh, it's nothing, Smokey. Just reminiscing. Ehe…" I reassured her. Smokey nodded and looked straight ahead. I kept walking, absorbing the afternoon sunlight, until I finally reached the door to my house.

" _Ugh…"_ I internally groaned. Making my way over to the door, I fumbled through my pockets for my keys. I recalled Smokey into her Pokéball, unlocked the door and went inside.

The place was a mess. Trash was strewn everywhere, the sink was overflowing with dirty dishes, and the trash bins seemed like they haven't been emptied in days. " _The housekeeper should be coming over tomorrow. Maybe we should pay her extra…_ " I thought. None of that mattered, though, because one certain smell overpowered everything else…

My dad was hunched over the dining table, his hand firmly grasping a bottle. He reeked of alcohol. "Dad, I'm home." I said, my voice as low as a whisper. My dad didn't respond, but he let out some grumbles letting me know that he was at least alive. "Dad." I repeated, slightly nudging him with my open palm.

"Wh-huh? Hilda? That you?" My dad slurred, obviously still drunk. " _It's 3 in the afternoon, for Arceus' sake…_ " I internally complained. "Yeah, I'm back from Hilbert's house." I said. "Hilbert? That broody guy? What were you doing there? Did he do anything to hurt you? Because if he did, I swear..." He said, still not looking up at me. "No, no. He didn't do anything. Please, calm down." I said, sighing. "I told you last night… Professor Juniper gave us our starter Pokémon, and we're going to be leaving soon." I replied, hurt that he forgot.

"Y-You're leaving? When?" My dad exclaimed, suddenly raising his head. "Argh! Damn… hangover…" My dad cried out in pain, grasping at his head. I attempted to take the bottle from his other hand, but he wouldn't let go.

"Professor Juniper called us to the lab. I need to be there in half an hour." I simply replied. "O-Oh… I see…" My dad mumbled. He placed the bottle on the dining table and slowly got up. "Well… have a safe trip, dear." My dad said, his eyes starting to water. I simply nodded.

"I'm going up to my room to change. Excuse me." I said, politely bowing to my dad and rushing up the stairs. I could hear something slamming into the dining table and shattering, but I didn't want to figure out what it was.

I walked into my room. Compared to Hilbert's room, or anyone else's room for that matter, my room was a mess. Clothes strewn all around the floor, papers littered around my desk, my comforter unwashed and my bed unmade. Trying not to step on the mess on the floor, I walked over to my bed and slowly laid down. It wasn't nearly as comfortable as Hilbert's bed, but it was familiar. A familiarity I desperately needed.

I rubbed my face against my comforter, slightly disgusted at the smell, but relieved that it was still the same old comforter I've had since I was little. A security blanket, I guess. I snuggled up into it and curled up into a ball, holding it even closer to my body.

I took a pillow near my feet and hugged it close to my chest. The softness of the pillow was comforting; squeezing it tight let me loosen up all the tension in my body. I nearly fell asleep, but I managed to stay conscious even through the softness of the pillow and the warmth of my comforter. I could feel a tear starting to drip down my eye. " _Why…?"_

" _What am I doing…"_ I thought to myself. It was time to get changed. Slowly, I got out of bed and walked over to my full body mirror. I looked at my body from top to bottom and sighed, hugging my curves. " _I guess I don't look terrible today…"_ I continued to think. I wiped at the spot where the tear flowed down with a handkerchief, smudging the small amount of makeup I had applied earlier.

Shaking off the negative thoughts, I slowly stripped down to my underwear and wrapped a towel around my body. I made my way to the bathroom - admittedly, one of the only relatively clean places in my house - and took a nice, refreshing shower to loosen my muscles and clear my mind.

After thoroughly cleansing and destressing, I made my way back to my room and threw on my usual traveling outfit. " _Let's see… a white shirt, a black, sleeveless vest, denim shorts, boots, and…"_ I went over to my closet and took out my favorite cap - a white cap with a pink Pokéball design on the front. I tied my hair into a high ponytail and placed the cap on my head, slipping the ponytail through the back.

I went back to the mirror and checked myself out once more. " _Much better. Now I look like an actual person…_ " The dark thoughts came to my mind once again. I shook my head. " _No, no. No time for these thoughts. I'm supposed to be excited today!"_ I tried to counter my thoughts. I clapped my cheeks twice and forced a smile. " _Better."_

Before I could make it to my closet, I glanced at the bookshelf beside the mirror. " _Maybe I should bring a few for the road…_ " I thought. I rummaged through the bookshelf and pulled out two specific books. " _The Mysterious Rotom. Ehe…_ " I thought, then set it on the table. I looked at the cover of the other one. " _Grayscale."_ I thought, reading the title on the cover.

The book had a simple design; the word _Grayscale_ embossed in the center, with a diagonal gray gradient as the cover "art". The author's name was lost to history, but their words weren't.

I took the book over to my bed and flipped through the pages. " _This was one of the first books I bought when we got to Unova._ " I said, then skimmed through the beginning of the book. "A story of two people with initially irreconcilable differences in truths and ideals. They found each other at a market in a town somewhere, and then…" I muttered aloud, then checked the time. " _It's almost time to go. I'll reread it later._ " I thought.

I stood up and placed a bookmark between the pages I'd stopped reading at. I took my pink messenger bag out from my closet, stuffed it with some basic supplies - as well as the books and Smokey's Pokéball - and went out the door to my room. I gave my bed one last parting glance, and finally went to leave my room.

Before I could even reach my door, I saw something shimmer in the corner of my eye. " _What's that…?_ " I thought. Behind the spot where _Grayscale_ sat, there was something shining in the afternoon light. " _I don't remember putting something like that there…_ " I thought. I went back to the bookshelf and pulled out whatever was behind the books.

I gently pulled the object out, so as to not knock the rest of the books onto the floor, and was taken aback at what the object was. " _A jewelry box…?_ " I thought. The jewelry box was beautiful. It was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand; the black leather across the entire body was soft and elegant, while the golden latch shimmered in the sunlight, contrasting the box beautifully.

I unlatched the box and opened it. The interior of the box was just as elegant as the outside; plush, red velvet lined the hollow, inner top of the box, while a beautiful, ivory pillow sat at the bottom. What was more beautiful, however, was what was resting on the pillow.

A beautiful emerald pendant laid on the pillow, a silver chain looped along its top. I angled myself so that the sunlight would strike it, and when it did, the emerald shone a bright green, gently illuminating the inside of the box. The once-white pillow appeared to take on a deep green hue as the light refracted off the gemstone.

Immediately, I knew who this beautiful pendant belonged to. " _Mom…_ " I thought. " _Mom's necklace… I thought it was gone in the…_ " My thoughts trailed off. I took the pendant out of the box, my hands trembling as I did so, and gently ran my fingers along its body. It was smooth and lustrous, as if it hadn't been a day since it was made.

I felt a tear fall onto my palm. And another. And another. Soon enough, my palm was flooded by my tears, staining the gemstone. I cried for around a minute until I came to my senses and wiped the tears off the gemstone. " _It's as if nothing happened to it…_ " I thought, the gemstone not looking any worse for wear after my tears had flooded it.

I gently unclasped the hook on the necklace and looped the chain over my neck, adjusting the gemstone so that it would rest just above my chest. I looked out of the window as I wiped the rest of the tears from my eyes. " _Can you see me right now? Mom…_ " I thought, smiling to myself.

After a moment of reminiscing, I finally left my room and went downstairs. I glanced over at the dining table and found my dad hunched over the table again, another bottle in his hands. Beside him was a pile of shattered, brown glass. " _That must have been what shattered earlier…_ " I thought.

I tried to rouse my dad by prodding him in the shoulder. "Dad. I'm leaving now." I said. My dad didn't respond. "Dad. I'm leaving." I said, prodding him harder. I heard him grunt and clasp onto the bottle he was holding even harder. Incensed, I pulled him sideways along the table, forcing him to face me.

"Dad, I'm leaving." I repeated myself. Slowly, my dad opened his eyes. "Bryn…?" He muttered, his eyes barely open. I shook my head. "Mom's gone, dad. I'm not her." I said, then turned to leave.

I could barely keep my heart from shattering as I listened to my dad cry out my mom's name. Soon enough, I found myself out the door to my house, ready to start my Pokémon adventure.

I gently rubbed my fingers against the emerald on my chest. " _Mom…_ "

* * *

I looked around the wreckage of my room. Whatever could be cleaned was cleaned, but the damage had already been done. There were now cracks in my wall, and the TV had to be replaced. Inexplicably, my game console was completely unharmed. " _Through some miracle of Arceus, my Wii is still intact. What a cruel sense of humor._ " I thought.

" _I still have some time left before we need to report to the lab. I suppose I'll freshen up…"_ I thought. I slowly stripped down to my boxers, took a towel from my closet and went to the bathroom. I was still mildly stressed out from the destruction in my room, so I filled the bathtub with hot water. Dipping a toe into it to test the temperature, I deemed it suitable for the rest of my body. I took off the last of my clothing and slowly submerged myself in the bathtub. "That hits the spot…" I mumbled, my head halfway underwater.

I took some bubble bath and poured it into the bath. A surge of bubbles erupted from where the tap flowed into the bath, eventually enveloping the entire surface of the water. I sunk my head deeper into the bath, feeling the warmth all over my body.

Eventually, I drained the bath and took a quick shower to rinse off the soapy water. I entered my room and woefully stared at the cracks in my wall and the scorch marks on the floorboards, knowing that there was nothing I could do about them now.

" _Whatever. I'll go put on some clothes."_ I thought. I opened the closet and picked out my favorite outfit. A blue jacket, black pants, and sneakers, and my favorite cap: red on the front, white at the back, with a black Pokéball design on the front. I thoroughly wiped my still-wet hair down before placing the cap over my head. Observing myself in the mirror, I adjusted my cap to make it face perfectly forward. " _That's more like it."_ I thought.

" _Ah, I almost forgot."_ I went over to my desk and opened a drawer. Inside that drawer was a platinum bracelet: an heirloom from my late father. " _With this, it'll be like he's always with me. Hah, how sentimental._ " I chuckled to myself as I slid the bracelet over my left wrist, but not before catching myself staring at my left palm.

Fortunately for me, the Wii was not the only electronic device that managed to come out unscathed. I walked over to the undamaged part of my desk and took a device in my hands.

The device was rectangular in shape with curved edges. On the front was a shiny black screen made of glass, with a button in the shape of a Pokéball at the bottom. The back of the device was made of black, stainless steel. There were buttons on the right side of the device, and when I clicked one, the screen came to life.

The once-black screen now shone brightly, replaced with a picture of a familiar shoreline. The time was displayed at the center of the screen, along with a few notifications listed below it.

" _Seems I have a message._ " I thought, then unlocked the device by placing my thumb to the Pokéball shaped button at the bottom. The time disappeared from the screen and was replaced by differently colored, but similarly shaped logos. With my index finger, I tapped the logo that looked like a text box one would see in comic books, and the screen changed into something else.

The word _Messages_ was bolded at the top of the screen. Below the word _Messages_ were recent messages from my acquaintances. I tapped the box that showed an icon that meant that the message was still unread.

"Hilbert! Call me when you see this message." The message on the screen said. Smiling, I called the sender of the message, knowing just how much it would inconvenience him. After a few rings, the sender finally picked up.

"Ugh, Hilbert, I know I told you to call when you saw this message, but did you really have to call at 1:30 in the morning?" The sender asked, clearly groggy and sleepy. "Nice to hear from you too, Calem. What was so urgent?" I asked.

"I just started my Pokémon journey today! Well, kind of. I'm still in Vaniville Town, but we technically just got our starter Pokémon." Calem said. "That's a coincidence. I just received my starter as well." I said. "No way. Race you to become the champion!" Calem said, laughing. "Is that a challenge? I'll race you any day." I said, laughing back.

"It was nice hearing from you, Hilbert. Give May a call, too! I hear she just started her own journey." Calem said. "I will. Good night, Calem." I said. "Seeya, Hilbert! Best of luck!" He said, then hung up.

I turned the device's screen off and stared at it in my palm. " _The Pokénav Plus. Truly a revolutionary device._ " I thought to myself. I put the Pokénav back on my desk and headed for my drawer.

I took my black and blue messenger bag out from my dresser and filled it with the necessities: a notebook, a pen, my cologne, Blade's Pokéball, and a packet full of Oran berries. I would ask my mother for an allowance when I went downstairs. I slung the messenger bag over my right shoulder, turned off the lights and went downstairs.

My mother was sitting on the couch, watching the news. " _Team Plasma…?"_ I glanced at the TV screen, but I had more pressing things to do.

"Mother, I'm leaving." I said, making my presence known. My mother stood up and turned around. She walked towards me and gave me a big, constricting hug. "So soon, Hilbert? What will I do about all these chores?" Mother said, winking. "I'll come by every now and then to clean up. Just wait until I catch a Pokémon that's good for transport. Or a bike." I said, half-jokingly, but I knew that I would eventually need to do just that. "Oh, what a relief!" My mother cried out in joy.

I sighed, but let a smile form on my face. "Here, your allowance. Don't spend it all in one place!" My mother said, rummaging through her purse. She gave me a decent sum of Pokédollars for the journey. "Thanks. I'll make sure not to waste it." I thanked my mother, gratefully accepting the money. "So responsible! I knew I raised you right." My mother said as she laughed. "I suppose you did." I said, scratching my cheek.

My mother noticed the bracelet on my wrist. "Ah, your father's…" She trailed off. "With this, it will feel like the two of you are always with me." I said, holding onto the bracelet. My mother sniffed, and a tear flowed down her cheek. She quickly drew me into a warm embrace. "I'm so glad to see you grow up, but please, stay safe!" Mother said, in between bawls. I gently hugged her back. "Of course I will. I'll come visit every now and then." I said.

Mother slowly let go of me. "I shouldn't keep you waiting. Have fun!" Mother cheerfully said. "See you later." I replied, waving at her as I went out the door.

The moment I went out the door, something ran straight past me, leaving behind a comical trail of dust in their wake. I was stunned for a couple seconds then looked in the direction of the runner, but they were long gone by the time I could figure out what it was. " _...?"_

From the opposite direction, I saw Hilda walking towards me. "Hello, Hilda." I greeted her. "Hey. Did you see what the hell that was?" She said, referring to whatever ran past me. "I couldn't catch a glimpse. You?" I asked. "It totally blindsided me. Anyway, let's head to the lab." Hilda said. I nodded, and the two of us walked side by side to the lab.

I glanced at Hilda, noticing her expression. "Hey… did something happen?" I asked. She seemed to be lost in thought. "Nothing. Just starting to feel a bit homesick already." She said, waving it off. I narrowed my eyes at her. "Weren't you the one who was so excited to get out of this town?" I asked. "I guess I was. Anyway, that doesn't matter. Let's go!" She said, quickening her pace.

I noticed the emerald pendant hanging around her neck. " _That definitely wasn't there before. I'm going to have to ask her about it later._ " I thought. I glanced down at the bracelet by my wrist. " _Then again, this wasn't here either._ "

It wasn't the first time that we saw Bianca winded that day. By the time we arrived at the lab, we saw Bianca hunched over the wall next to the doors to the lab, breathing heavily. Her eyes seemed a bit red.

Hilda ran up to her and supported Bianca by the side, trying to get her to stand up straight. "Bianca? What's wrong?" Hilda asked. "N-Nothing. I'm fine!" Bianca said, waving her hands in front of her. "You're out of breath, you look like you just cried the whole night, and I'm pretty sure that _thing_ that blew straight past me was you. I don't think that constitutes 'fine'." I bluntly said, calmly walking up to the two of them. Hilda glared at me. "Hilbert!" She chastised. " _Must have been too harsh. Oh well."_

Bianca's attempted smile cracked, and she broke down into a messy sob. Hilda hugged her close and rubbed her back, trying to get her to calm down. "Hilbert! Apologize to her, right now!" Hilda yelled at me. "N-No, he's right…" Bianca tried to say, in-between sobs. "No, it's my fault. Sorry, Bianca." I apologized, slightly bowing my head to her. "It's fine, Hilbert! Really!" She said, trying to laugh through the tears.

Bianca stopped crying and put on the cheerful smile we all knew and loved. Her eyes were still red, though. "Okay, let's wait for Cheren. He should be coming any minute now." Bianca said, having finally calmed down.

Hilda let go of Bianca and crossed her arms, glaring at me. "Are you sure?" She asked. "One hundred percent!" Bianca exclaimed, pumping her fists halfway through the air.

Cheren coughed, a few meters away from us. "I'm here." He simply said. "Oh, when did you get here, Cheren?" Hilda asked. "I just got here. It didn't feel right to interrupt." Cheren admitted.

"Now that we're all here, let's go inside and see why Professor Juniper called us." Bianca said, making her way over to the door. One by one, we went into the lab.

* * *

The lab was just as messy as I remembered, though not as messy as my room. Papers and binders were strewn all over the desks, Pokéballs were everywhere on the floor, and even the lounge had entirely too many coffee mugs that were in desperate need of washing. I glanced over at Hilbert and his expression was brooding. " _We better not be in here longer than we have to be…"_

Professor Juniper was waiting for us at the deepest part of the lab. Incidentally, it happened to be the messiest. "Oh, you're finally here! I've been waiting for you." Professor Juniper said. " _Bubbly."_ I mused. Hilbert glanced at his watch, "You said we needed to be at the lab by 4 PM. It is indeed, 4 PM sharp." Hilbert curtly said. I looked at him and blinked. "Hilbert, could you be a smartass literally anytime else?" I said, shocked at his attitude.

"Oh, it's fine, Hilda. It wouldn't be Hilbert if he wasn't nagging at me." Professor Juniper said, laughing Hilbert's smartassery off. "Speaking of nagging, what have I told you about cleaning the lab more often?" Hilbert said, crossing his arms and glaring at Professor Juniper. She gulped. "I-I'm a busy woman, and…" She tried to explain.

"Professor Juniper…" Hilbert trailed off, glaring at the poor professor. She nearly stumbled back into the desk, but regained her composure. "A-Anyway, that's not the point." She said, trying to change the subject. "Sure, it isn-" "Shut up!" I cut him off.

Cheren coughed. "Getting back on track, I have a feeling I know why you called us here, Professor. Mind if I take a guess?" He said, forcefully changing the subject. "After this, Cheren. We still need to go through the formalities." Professor Juniper replied. "Formalities…?" Hilbert asked.

"Anyway, allow me to introduce myself. My name is-" "Professor Juniper." Hilbert cut her off. "Professor, we already know your name." He continued. "Oh, Hilbert. Let's take things with some semblance of formality today, shall we? After all, this day only comes once in our lifetimes!" Professor Juniper cheerily said, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.

Hilbert nodded. "I suppose so. Carry on." He said. "He's the only person who can get away with talking to the Professor like this. Is she scared of him…?" Bianca whispered to me. "You remember how much of a slave driver he was being earlier? Hell, even I'm kind of terrified of him now." I whispered back.

Cheren brought a finger to his lips and shushed us. "Like I was saying, my name is Professor Juniper. Pokémon Professors across all the regions study different things, and what I study is the origin of Pokémon - how and when they came to be!" She announced. " _We already knew this…"_ I thought to myself.

"Come, let me see your Pokémon." The professor beckoned at us. One by one, we let our Pokémon out of their Pokéballs. "Oh, it seems like you've already had Pokémon battles. No wonder it seems like your Pokémon seem to be warming up to you!" Professor Juniper happily said, then glanced at their bellies. "It seems like they've had quite the meals too." She observed.

I awkwardly laughed, while Hilbert remained silent as he took an Oran berry from his pouch, dropping it in front of Blade. The oshawott happily munched on it. Hilbert passed us all an Oran berry, hinting at us to feed our Pokémon. Shrugging, I kneeled down and hand-fed Smokey, who affectionately rubbed her nose against the back of my hand.

"Well well, seems like I won't have to worry about your Pokémon starving. Haha!" Professor Juniper said as she giggled. Hilbert nodded. "I'll do my best." He said, putting a fist to his chest. The three of us stared at him.

"Have you all nicknamed your Pokémon like I told Bianca to tell you?" Professor Juniper asked. "Yes. His name is Blade." Hilbert started. "Smokey." "Crown." "Jolts!" The rest of us said. "Wow, such wonderful nicknames! You can really tell what sort of person a trainer is like based on the nicknames of Pokémon, that's what I believe." The professor said, nodding at each of our Pokémon.

"Alright, Cheren, you're up. Why do you think I called you here?" Professor Juniper said, passing the ball to Cheren. "It's for the Pokédex, right?" Cheren guessed. "Oh, how wonderful. You're completely correct! You've been studying Pokémon night and day, right?" Professor Juniper said. Cheren glanced at the four Pokédexes conspicuously lined up on the table right beside him and grimaced.

"Allow me to enlighten you all a little about the Pokédex. The Pokédex is a super high-tech device that records the Pokémon you encounter, and even displays specific data like height and weight when you capture them!" The professor explained. "I want the four of you to travel all across Unova and meet all the Pokémon you can find in this region. Hilbert, Hilda, Cheren, and Bianca. Are the four of you up to the task?" Professor Juniper asked, staring at us with expectant eyes.

The four of us traded glances, and nodded in unison. "Yes!" We said. The professor couldn't have looked more thrilled. "Thank you, everyone! That was the best possible answer I could have received. Okay, meet me at Route 1. I'll teach you guys how to catch Pokémon. See you there!" The professor said, walking by us and heading outside.

Bianca looked nervous. "Since the professor said we could do it, we definitely can do it, right? We can go and explore the world, and find something we want to do along the way, right?" She pensively asked. "Of course." Cheren replied. "We can go wherever we want - within reason - while we try to complete the Pokédex. Who knows where Pokémon are hiding?" He continued.

Bianca placed a hand to her chest and exhaled deeply. "Phew… alright, let's head to Route 1!" She said. I looked beside me and noticed a distinct lack of Hilbert. "...Where'd Hilbert go?" I questioned. We heard the door closing from across the lab. "Hilbert, wait!" Bianca said as she ran after him.

Cheren and I caught up to Bianca outside the lab. Hilbert was talking to his mom. Hilbert's mom noticed us come out of the lab and rummaged through her bag. "I nearly forgot! Kids, here. Take one of these town maps. With them, you'll never get lost, no matter where you are!" His mom said, giving each of us a town map.

"Thank you, Mrs. Blake!" Bianca cheerily said. "I appreciate it, Mrs. Blake." Cheren said, nodding as he stuffed the town map into his bag. "Th-Thank you…" I said, slightly blushing. "Take care of yourselves now! And visit every so often! I need to go fix up Hilbert's room for when he comes back home." Hilbert's mom said.

"Oh, and Hilda, make sure to take extra care of Hilbert, okay?" She said, smugly winking at me. I looked and felt extremely exasperated. "Of course." I said, deeply sighing. Hilbert audibly sighed and placed his hand on the back of my neck again, causing me to shoot up. "Hey!" I complained.

"Ah, I almost forgot again." Hilbert's mom said, taking out a blue Xtransceiver. "Dear, swap out your watch for this. It's a watch that lets you call people, no matter where they are! Much like that other device of yours." Hilbert's mom said, placing the Xtransceiver in Hilbert's hands. I raised my eyebrow at that last one. " _What other device?_ " I thought.

"Thank you. I'll call you every now and then." Hilbert said, slipping his watch off and replacing it with the Xtransceiver. I glanced at the pink Xtransceiver on my wrist, as did Bianca and Cheren with theirs.

Cheren must have had a cold, because he coughed again. "Let's not keep the professor waiting. Goodbye, Mrs. Blake." Cheren said, nodding as he walked away. "See ya!" Bianca said as she followed after Cheren. Hilbert gave his mom a quick hug and followed the pair. "I'll visit sometime, Mrs. Blake. Make sure my dad's cleaning up after himself, please." I said, bowing my head to her.

"Of course, dear. Anything for you." She said, patting my head through my cap. "Goodbye!" I said, quickly following after the others.

* * *

I unraveled the town map as I walked towards Route 1. " _Nuvema Town really is in the sticks. We're in the southeastern most part of Unova, for Arceus' sake."_ I internally complained. " _This journey is going to be an unbelievably long one…_ "

I made it to the entrance to Route 1, which coincidentally was the place Hilda was assaulted by the lillipup. I looked around at the grass, and noticed a distinctly Hilda-shaped mark in the grass. I chuckled to myself and met up with Cheren, Bianca and Professor Juniper. "Took you long enough. Where's Hilda?" Cheren asked. "I don't know. Maybe my mom had something to say to her." I said, shrugging.

I heard a sound coming from my left and looked over to see Hilda jogging over to us. "Sorry, Hilbert's mom wanted to talk about something. Did I miss anything?" She asked, stopping right beside me. I looked at her in the eyes, and she simply shook her head.

"Nope. Actually, I had an idea." Bianca said. "And what might that be?" I asked. "Bianca said that if we're going to begin our journey as Pokémon trainers, we should start it with the same first step into Route 1." Cheren explained in Bianca's stead.

Hilda smiled and clapped her hands together. "That's a wonderful idea, Bianca! Come on, everyone, huddle up." Hilda said as she walked over to the very edge of town. I walked beside her, Cheren took his place to the left of me and Bianca made her way on the other side of Cheren.

"Ready, everyone?" Bianca said. "Three, two, one…" She counted down. Hilda took my hand in hers. I looked at her, and she gave me a warm smile. I squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back. "Go!" Bianca said.

We all took our first step forward into our adventure as Pokémon trainers together.

I let go of Hilda's hand. "Alright, that's that. Come on, Professor Juniper's over there." Cheren said, pointing to the professor. Her back was turned, and she was staring out into the wilderness.

The four of us made our way over to the professor, calling her attention. "Oh, good, you're all here." She acknowledged. "Everyone, gather around. Like I explained earlier, meeting a Pokémon for the first time automatically records data into your Pokédex, while catching it adds even more data. That being said, I'm going to show you how to catch a Pokémon."

As if on cue, a patrat leaped out of the bushes and growled angrily at the professor. I could see Hilbert reaching into his bag, presumably for an Oran berry. I grabbed his wrist before he could do anything, prompting him to raise an eyebrow at me. "Just watch the professor." I said. Hilbert took his hand back out of his bag and nodded.

The professor threw a Pokéball onto the ground in front of her. A minccino popped out, poised and ready for battle. "The first thing to do is to weaken the enemy Pokémon by using moves. Now, Minccino, use pound!" Professor Juniper commanded. Minccino ran up to the patrat and slammed its tail onto it, knocking it slightly back. The patrat retaliated by raising its claw and slashing at Minccino.

Minccino was pushed back, but it ran back to the patrat and went in for another pound. It slammed its tail sideways, flinging the patrat off to the side. "There! Now that the enemy Pokémon is sufficiently weakened…" The professor took a Pokéball from her bag and tossed it at the patrat, hitting it square on the head. The patrat was absorbed into the Pokéball, vigorously shaking until it calmed down.

"And that's how to catch a Pokémon!" Professor Juniper said, returning Minccino to its Pokéball and picking up the patrat's Pokéball. "If you can, you can inflict status ailments such as paralysis or sleep to make the Pokémon easier to capture." She continued.

Professor Juniper went up to each of us and gave us some Pokéballs. "Here, a gift. Use these Pokéballs to catch Pokémon and add them to your party! Remember, you can only hold up to six Pokémon at once." She said.

"Thank you, professor." Cheren said, politely bowing. "It's no problem at all. Meet me at the Pokémon center in Accumula Town, which is just up ahead." Professor Juniper said as she walked in the direction opposite from Nuvema Town.

Cheren studied the tall grass in front of him. "Tall grass houses a number of Pokémon, by the way. I'll be heading over to Accumula Town too, so I'll see you guys there." Cheren said, waving at us as he walked away.

"Hold on, Cheren, wait!" Bianca shouted, scaring off a flock of pidove in the trees. "Huh?" He asked, looking back at Bianca. "Let's have some fun, Cheren! I was thinking we could turn this into a competition." Bianca smugly said, knowing the exact words to press Cheren's buttons.

"I'm listening…" Cheren said as he turned around. "It's simple. Whoever catches the most Pokémon by the end of Route 1 wins!" She announced, scaring off another flock of pidove. Hilbert looked distraught.

Cheren nodded. "Hmm, I see. That does sound like fun. Plus, it helps with the Pokédex." He agreed. "I'm in! There's no way I'll lose to you guys." I said, putting my hands to my hips. "I'll do my best." Hilbert said, sighing as he watched the pidove fly away.

This was the very start of our Pokémon adventure. " _I'm going to catch all the Pokémon here. There's no way I'll lose!"_


	3. The Winds by the Sea

I took a deep breath and surveyed my surroundings. Route 1 was very simple: a straight path to the neighboring town, with access to the sea from the east. Slowly trudging through the tall grass so as to not agitate the wild Pokémon lurking within, I made my way over to the shore.

I took in lungfuls of salty sea air and exhaled deeply each time, thoroughly allowing the essence of the sea to enter my system. It was refreshing; far more refreshing than my soak in the bathtub earlier. " _What I would give to take a dip…_ " I thought. I was just about to leap into the water, but a voice calling out from behind stopped me.

"Hilbert?" A voice came from behind me. I turned around and saw Hilda walking towards me, her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "You won't be finding any wild Pokémon just staring out there." She said, admonishing me.

"I know. I just wanted to admire the water." I said. "The water? Huh, I guess you did come from a fishing town in Hoenn. What was it called?" Hilda asked, now standing beside me. "Dewford." I replied. "It wasn't the biggest town, but it was home, and I learned how to fish there." I continued.

"I see. It's no wonder you don't complain about the constant sea breeze back in town." Hilda said, chuckling. "We've been here for five years now now. Nuvema is pretty much just a much quieter Dewford. How have you not gotten used to it?" I replied, staring at her. "Uh… I stay indoors a lot?" Hilda said, now grimacing. I sighed.

"If, by indoors, you mean at my house, then I suppose you do." I said. "Meanie." Hilda said, pouting as she playfully punched my arm. I rubbed my arm in mock discomfort. "That hurts, you know." I said, half-jokingly. Hilda stuck her tongue out at me and laughed.

"Shouldn't you go catch some wild Pokémon? I'll catch up with you and the others." I said. "Eh, it can wait. It's not like the Pokémon are going anywhere." Hilda said, shrugging. "Or, you're making an excuse to bug me." I guessed. "That's pretty much it. It's not like you mind, anyway." She huffed, looking away from me. "Then, by all means, enjoy the sea breeze with me." I said, smiling.

"You've been smiling a lot more recently, you know?" Hilda said, poking at the corners of my lips. "Cut it out." I grabbed her finger as she tried to poke me again. "Hey!" She complained. "You started it." I waved off.

Hilda retracted her finger and crossed her arms, turning away from me. "I guess the sea breeze does feel pleasant, after a while." Hilda said, still facing away. "It reminds me of my life in Dewford. It's familiar." I said, nodding. "Familiar…" She trailed off. "Hm?"

"It's nothing. Let's get a move on before Bianca and Cheren scoop up every last wild Pokémon in the route." Hilda said, turning back to the route and tugging at my arm. "You're really, really touchy. You know that?" I complained, allowing myself to be dragged along. "Come on, you should be used to it by now." She said, giggling like a schoolgirl. "I suppose we both need to get used to certain things." I said.

As we left the shore, I heard a rustling in the bushes underneath a nearby tree. " _...?"_ I thought. "What's wrong, Hilbert?" Hilda said, noticing that I'd stopped walking. "I thought I heard something over there. It's probably not important though." I said, chalking it up to a wild Pokémon. "If you say so. Come on, let's go find some wild Pokémon to catch." Hilda said, still tugging at my arm. "I can walk just fine." I said, but she pretended to not have heard me.

We walked around the route, trying to find any trace of wild Pokémon. "This is strange. Normally, Route 1 is bustling with all sorts of wild Pokémon." I said as I kneeled down and observed the ground. " _Why are there so many footprints…?"_

"Maybe they're all asleep? Or, I don't know, migrating?" Hilda guessed. "If they were asleep, we should have run into a sleeping wild Pokémon already." I said as I checked my Xtransceiver. The time read 5:30 PM. "We've been wandering around for an hour, and we haven't found a single wild Pokémon. This is concerning." I continued.

"Do you think Bianca and Cheren caught them all?" Hilda guessed, placing a finger to her chin. "Even if they had all the Pokéballs in the region, they wouldn't be able to catch all the Pokémon in this route within an hour. No, I think something else is happening…" I refuted her guess.

I racked my brain, trying to figure out what was going on. I studied the footprints again, and tried to follow where they were going. "Hilbert?" Hilda asked. "Hold on." I said.

I followed the footprints, and eventually found dozens more footprints scattered across the ground. Their movement was erratic and spaced out, as if they were trying to get away from something. They led deeper into the forest, where the footprints became indistinguishable from one another.

I released Blade from his Pokéball. "Osha?" He said, looking up at me. "Hilda, can you send Smokey out? I think I'm on to something." I said. Hilda concernedly looked at me, but sent Smokey out regardless. "Tep?" Smokey grunted, looking over at Blade. "Now, if my guess is correct…" I said as I slowly took out a handful of Oran berries from my bag.

"I don't think they're very hungry right now." Hilda said, and the pair nodded in agreement. " _I doubt they'd say no to a free snack, though."_ I thought. "This isn't for them. Just watch." I said as I kneeled down and placed the Oran berries on the ground. "Okay. Let's hide over there." I said, pointing to a tree.

The four of us made our way over to behind the tree, where we could perfectly see the pile of Oran berries. "What are we doing here…?" Hilda asked. "Luring out a wild Pokémon with food. All Pokémon love berries, right, you two?" I asked our partners. They vigorously nodded in agreement.

Slowly, a patrat walked out of the woods and took from the Oran berry pile. It tentatively ate the berry, looking to its sides every so often. "Blade, Smokey. Make your presence known." I told the two, who did just that. Blade and Smokey leaped out from behind the tree and assumed a fighting stance. The patrat did not run; instead, it finished eating the berry and seemed prepared to fight as well.

"Blade, use tackle!" "Slam into it, Smokey!" Hilda and I commanded our partners. The two of them nodded at each other and slammed into the patrat full force, knocking it into a nearby tree. The patrat got up and slashed at Blade, leaving a mark on his chest. "While it's distracted! Smokey, tackle it again!" Hilda shouted, to which Smokey complied. Smokey tackled the patrat into the same tree, cleanly knocking it out.

I nodded. "I think I have most of the pieces…" I muttered. "Violence against patrat aside, what was the point of all this?" Hilda asked, hands on her hips.

"The tracks the wild Pokémon left indicated that they were fleeing from something. I thought they might have fled from Bianca and Cheren, so I tested it out by luring one out and having them face our partners. Since the patrat didn't immediately flee, that could only mean one thing…" I trailed off, my expression darkening.

"Which is?" Hilda asked, now looking at me in the eyes. I looked back. "There's something here that doesn't belong in Route 1, and it's scaring all the native Pokémon away. Whatever it is, it's strong enough to make everything here flee for their lives." I calmly said.

Hilda gulped. "D… do you think Bianca and Cheren took care of it?" Hilda asked. I simply shook my head. "If they did, we definitely would have seen it, and at the very least, the wild Pokémon should have come back. But no, we had to lure them out with berries. So it's still out there." I said, my voice now as low as a whisper.

Blade and Smokey came back to us, Blade holding the Oran berries on his scalchop like a waiter. "Dig in. You deserve it." I said. The pair happily obliged, splitting the Oran berries.

Hilda nervously looked around. "So there's a huge wild Pokémon out there? Can we beat it?" She asked, clinging onto my arm. "I guess we'll have to wait and see. For now, let's check our Pokédexes." I said, using my free arm to get my Pokédex from my bag. Hilda did the same with hers.

"It seems that the Pokédex can display accurate data about our party. Here, take a look." I beckoned Hilda over to look at my Pokédex. It was displaying a summary of Blade's data: his moves, ability, nature, characteristic, and even the place and date we met. "Oh, that's interesting. So Blade is the lonely type, huh? And quick tempered." Hilda said, giggling at Blade. Blade frowned at me and smacked me on the foot with his scalchop. "Ouch!" I complained, nearly dropping my Pokédex on Smokey. "Quick tempered for sure… but lonely?" I said as I looked at Blade, who simply looked away.

"Hmm, let's look at Smokey's." Hilda said, looking at her Pokédex. "She's the docile type, and likes to relax. Ha, I guess we have a lot in common!" She said, affectionately rubbing Smokey over the head. Smokey looked content.

"You do? Which part?" I asked. "Hilbert… Hmph." Hilda said, glaring at me. "Just kidding. Kind of." I said, chuckling. "You really are the worst." She huffed, facing away from me. Conspicuously, she was still holding on to my arm. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway, let's not get distracted." I apologized. Hilda did not respond.

There was a rumbling in the distance. The sound reverberated across the entire route, and even caused the ground to tremor. "?!" I gasped. Hilda jumped and drew closer to me.

Since we were still behind the tree, I poked my head out and turned to the source of the rumbling. There, I saw it; the source of the wild Pokémons' mass exodus.

A massive insectoid Pokémon that stood on four legs, but possessed even more along its body. Half of its body was raised upright, while its horns jutted out of its head not unlike a demon's. Its body was a shade of purple, while its belly was a deep black.

A scolipede had found its way onto Route 1.

* * *

I could feel my legs giving out. That Pokémon was bigger than any other I'd ever seen before. And it was _here_ , in Route 1, where the wild Pokémon were mostly docile. " _What… the hell?"_

I was about to scream, but Hilbert quickly placed a hand over my mouth. I may have resisted the urge to bite his hand. "Hilda." Hilbert whispered. "We're going to be putting Smokey's flames to good use." He said, to which I nodded in reply. "Bug Pokémon are weak to fire type moves, so we're going to need to make the most out of this." He continued.

Hilbert slowly let go of my mouth. I exhaled deeply, and took a couple breaths to regain my composure. "Okay, Smokey. When I say so, fire your ember onto that huge bug Pokémon." I said. "Tepig." Smokey said, giving me a nod in affirmation. "Blade, follow my lead. You're going to fire water gun after water gun onto the scolipede. Make sure not to get hit. If you can't avoid it, find a way to get Smokey to take the hits." Hilbert said, tossing both of them an Oran berry. "Eat this when you feel weaker. It'll refresh your energy." Hilbert said, placing an Oran berry behind Blade's scalchop and another one in Smokey's paw.

The scolipede turned away from us, making it the perfect chance to strike. "Now, Smokey! Use ember!" I commanded. Smokey let loose a torrent of flames from her mouth, coating the scolipede's rear with fire. The scolipede cried out in pain and immediately turned around, focusing its attention to Smokey. "Now, Blade! Use water gun!" Hilbert commanded right after. Blade breathed in and expelled a huge amount of water from his gut, slamming the scolipede where the ember had burned.

Blade and Smokey hopped out from behind the tree and assumed a defensive stance. The scolipede charged at them, but before it could get close, Blade and Smokey blasted it again with a water gun and ember respectively, further damaging the bug.

The scolipede lowered its mandibles and sunk its teeth into Smokey, injecting her with venom. Smokey yelped out in pain, but leaped out of the way. "Smokey!" I cried out. Hilbert shook his head. "It appeared to have done significant damage, but we were lucky it didn't poison her. That could have spelled the end of us." He said, breathing a sigh of relief.

Smokey ate the Oran berry, restoring some of her energy. "Now, Smokey! Hit it with another ember!" I yelled. The scolipede was right in front of Smokey, so it took the full brunt of her flames. The scolipede staggered back in pain, obviously feeling the burn. "Yes!" I cheered. Hilbert looked over at the scolipede's belly. "Burn marks… that's good. Looks like Smokey's attack managed to burn it. That's good for us, because our lives are going to be a lot easier now." Hilbert said, sighing in relief once more. I pumped my fist in the air.

"Now, Blade! Use water gun!" Hilbert yelled. Blade backed away to get some distance between himself and the scolipede, and blasted it again with a powerful water gun. "Good job." Hilbert said. Blade looked back at him and nodded. The scolipede roared and sunk its fangs into Blade's torso, dealing some damage.

Blade leaped back in pain and tried to get his Oran berry, but found out that it was mysteriously missing. "Tch. The scolipede must have used bug bite." Hilbert said, clicking his tongue. "Bug bite… that's the move that eats the opponent's berry, right?" I said, to which Hilbert nodded. "It must be feeling refreshed now that it snacked on Blade's Oran berry." He said, groaning.

I looked back at Smokey. "Don't let up, Smokey! Burn it down!" I shouted. Smokey blasted the scolipede with flames once more, causing it to stagger even further back. It looked unsteady on its feet. "One more attack should do it. Blade, use water gun once more!" Hilbert said. Blade, still recoiling from the pain, opened his mouth and shot out another powerful water gun onto the scolipede's belly.

The scolipede roared in pain and powerfully collapsed onto its side. The earth shook from the impact, leaving a scolipede-shaped crater in the dirt. Hilbert sighed one last time in relief, while I cheered as loud as I could. "Woohoo! We did it!" I cheered, grabbing onto Hilbert's arm again. "Yeah, we did. Now can you loosen up your iron grip?!" Hilbert complained, his face contorted in pain. Snickering, I let go of his arm, and he tenderly rubbed where I had squeezed him.

Blade fell forwards onto the ground, obviously tired and spent after all those water guns. Smokey fell onto her back, deeply breathing in and out. "You guys did great!" I said, walking over to them. I gave Smokey a belly rub, eliciting a smile from the tepig. "Taking down a massive Pokémon like that is no small feat. You guys deserve to feel proud." Hilbert congratulated. Blade gave a thumbs up from the ground, while Smokey just rolled around. "Let's take a break. I'm sure you two are tired." Hilbert said, recalling Blade into his Pokéball. I did the same with Smokey.

I stretched and sat down on the ground, staring at the now-unconscious scolipede. "Will it be okay…?" I asked. "It'll be fine. Blade's and Smokey's attacks weren't nearly enough to significantly hurt it." Hilbert replied, placing a few Oran berries near the scolipede's mouth.

"Hilbert, are you sure that's safe?" I asked him, concern in my eyes. "No. But it's the least I can do for it." Hilbert said, sighing. "Okay, I'll call Bianca and tell her to get a Pokémon ranger. I don't think we can control a Pokémon this strong yet." I said, pulling up my Xtransceiver and calling Bianca.

"Oh, Hilda? What's up?" Bianca said, her face visible on the Xtransceiver's screen. "Hi, Bianca. Are you in Accumula Town right now? We need a Pokémon ranger over here as soon as possible." I said. "Yeah, Cheren and I just got here. Why do you need one?" Bianca asked, confused. "Hilbert and I found a scolipede that somehow found its way here. It was scaring off all the other wild Pokémon. We managed to defeat it, fortunately" I explained. "Oh no, that's terrible! Okay, I'll get a Pokémon ranger right away." Bianca said. "Great! We're here in Route 1, across the shore." I said, hanging up.

A few minutes later, Bianca, Cheren and a Pokémon ranger arrived on the scene. The Pokémon ranger said that he'd take it from there, and told us to head on over to Accumula Town to rest up. Hilbert and I were very thankful for that.

The four of us found ourselves sitting around a table in a café. Bianca was sipping from a latte, Cheren and Hilbert were drinking black coffee, while I was drinking berry juice. " _This is supposed to be for Pokémon, but damn it, this is delicious…"_ I thought, taking sips from my drink.

"You two took down that thing by yourselves?!" Bianca shouted, clearly shocked. "It wasn't easy. Frankly, we got lucky, even. Smokey managed to burn it and avoided getting poisoned by its poison sting, and even then it stole Blade's Oran berry. If it played literally any other way, we would have been done for." Hilbert said.

Cheren shook his head. "Though luck was clearly a factor in your victory, you can't deny that it was your teamwork with Hilda that allowed you two to prevail. That's something to be proud of." He said, praising us. "Wow… getting praised by Cheren…" I gushed, stars practically visible in my eyes. "Hilbert, let's take down even stronger wild Pokémon!" She said, a huge smile on her face. "We ought to get stronger first, and expand our party." Hilbert said.

"Something doesn't add up, though." Cheren said, adjusting his glasses. "What doesn't?" I asked. "The fact that there was a scolipede in Route 1 to begin with. Typically, you only see lillipup and patrat, maybe the occasional audino, but those are found all over Unova." He explained, eyes closed as he sipped his drink. Hilbert nodded in agreement. "Indeed. The fact that the scolipede was scaring off all the other wild Pokémon means that, even on the off chance that it _was_ native to the area, it definitely wasn't from Route 1." Hilbert added.

"Good thinking calling for a Pokémon ranger, Hilda. Hopefully they can investigate this incident." Cheren said, praising me again. "Aww, stop, you'll make me blush." I teased, winking at Cheren.

"So how did you guys do?" Bianca suddenly changed the topic. "On?" I asked. "Our contest! Who caught the most Pokémon?" Bianca explained. Hilbert and I nervously looked at each other. "Uh…" We said. Hilbert shook his head, and I simply grimaced. Bianca and Cheren stared at us wide-eyed.

"What? You two didn't catch any Pokémon? Aren't Blade and Smokey going to get lonely?" Bianca said, pouting. "I think we can let them off the hook, Bianca. They couldn't have caught wild Pokémon even if they tried." Cheren said, sipping his drink. " _Though, we did lure a patrat in using Oran berries…"_ I thought.

"So, what now?" I said. "Professor Juniper is supposed to be at the Pokémon center, but when we visited it she wasn't there. She must be off doing… something." Cheren said. "I see. Well, let's just relax. It's not every day you run into a near life-and-death situation." I said, stretching as I reclined further into the chair. "For Pokémon trainers, that might very well be false." Hilbert snarked.

* * *

Our Xtransceivers rang at the same time. I looked down at mine and saw an incoming call from Professor Juniper. I answered it and brought the Xtransceiver to my face, and so did the others.

"Everyone! Sorry I'm late. Where are you all at right now?" Professor Juniper said from the screen. "We're at the café beside the Pokémon center. Where are you right now, professor?" Cheren asked. "I just got back to Accumula Town. There was a situation over at Route 2, you see…" The professor said. "Let me guess. There was a wild Pokémon not native to the area scaring away all the native wild Pokémon?" I said. "That was spot-on, but how did you know?" The professor asked. "Because we had to deal with one earlier in Route 1. We'll fill you in at the Pokémon center." I said, hanging up the Xtransceiver.

I finished my drink and stood up. "Let's get going." I said. Hilda, Cheren and Bianca hung up their Xtransceivers, and the four of us made our way over to the Pokémon center.

Professor Juniper was outside the Pokémon center, strangely tired and out of breath. "Hello, everyone. Let's chat inside." Professor Juniper said, opening the doors to the Pokémon center.

A blast of cold air greeted us as we walked into the Pokémon center. It was a very homey establishment: the nurse in the middle of the building directly across us, a lounge to our left, vendors to our right, and trainer lodgings on the second floor. Professor Juniper went over to the lounge and beckoned for us to sit down. We took our seats on the couch across Professor Juniper.

"Not even a minute after I arrived in Accumula Town, a trainer ran up to me and told me that there were wild Pokémon rampaging through Route 2. I thought it was just the purrloin and lillipup getting into territorial fights again, but when I got there…"

Professor Juniper recounted the tale of what she saw in Route 2. Upon her arrival, a bouffalant and a darmanitan were waging an intense battle with each other. The bouffalant was ramming through trees and crushing the patches of grass in its path, while the darmanitan was scorching those patches of grass, causing a major grassfire to break out. Fortunately, there was a corps of Pokémon rangers visiting Accumula Town who were able to command their water Pokémon to extinguish the blaze and subdue the rampaging bouffalant and darmanitan.

A few rookie trainers were injured, but fortunately nobody was in critical condition. The worst thing that happened was the loss of habitat for some of the purrloin and lillipup in the area, but they would hopefully adjust.

"That's terrible… it makes what Hilbert and I had to go through look like child's play." Hilda said, looking despondent. I gently patted her on the back, causing her to face me. "No, what the two of you did was remarkable in your own right, fending off that scolipede with only your starter Pokémon. Hold your head up high, Hilda." The professor said, encouraging Hilda. She slowly lifted her head and smiled. "Thank you, professor." She said.

"Still, these incidents leave grave implications. Why were those Pokémon there, and why were they so upset? It's all very unnatural." The professor said, her arms folded across her chest. "Anyway, that's not your concern right now. What the four of you should be doing is traveling across Unova, and in case you find more wild Pokémon that shouldn't belong in those areas, don't hesitate to give me - or the Pokémon Rangers' Association - a call on your Xtransceiver. Anyway, I have to return to the lab. Goodbye!" The professor said. She stood up and exited the Pokémon center.

The four of us sat there in silence. "So… do you guys want to have dinner?" Bianca said. "I'm not really hungry right now. Sorry, Bianca…" Hilda said, apologetic. "I'll have to pass, too. Sorry." I said. Cheren and Bianca looked at each other and nodded. "I'll accompany Bianca for dinner. You two can go get some rest, and catch up if you want." Cheren said as the pair left the Pokémon center.

I looked over at Hilda, and the glee she had earlier from being praised by Cheren was nowhere to be found. Instead, it was replaced by an expression of sheer exhaustion. "Hilda?" I asked. "Hilbert…"

"I was just thinking about how lucky we were to get out of that unharmed. Like you said earlier, it was all a stroke of luck that we managed to take down that scolipede, and even then we were cutting it close. I'm just… so scared, you know? Scared that next time, we might not be so lucky." Hilda said, shivering as she hugged her arms close to her body.

I reached around Hilda and placed my hand over her shoulder, pulling her close to me. She looked up at me in surprise, but relented and rested her head on my chest. I slowly took her cap off and ran my hand across her hair, eliciting a gasp from her. "You're getting awfully comfortable with me…" She said, but I didn't pay attention to her comment.

"It's simple, Hilda." I said. She looked up at me, her eyes starting to water. "If the only reason we made it out there is because we got lucky, then all we need to do is get stronger, so that we don't need to rely on just luck." I continued, closing my eyes. "Wha…?" She asked.

"I'm saying we need to put the 'train' in Pokémon trainer. The stronger we get, the less we'll have to rely on luck to survive, and more on our strength and wits. We'll be unstoppable then." I said. "By training with our Pokémon, we can become closer to them; learning more about them, fighting with them, fighting _for_ them... then, and only then can we truly call ourselves Pokémon trainers." I said, resting my hand on top of her head. " _Where are these words coming from? This isn't like me._ " I thought.

"Hilbert…" Hilda said, sniffing. She lowered her head back onto my chest and rubbed her face against it. "You're right. We need to bond with our Pokémon, get stronger, and learn all sorts of things about being Pokémon trainers. Ehe… how could I have forgotten that's the entire reason why we're out here in the first place?" She said, laughing a little. "Just blame the stress. I do it all the time." I said in jest. "You know, that really explains a lot about you…" She replied.

The two of us laughed, and Hilda slowly detached herself from my body. She put her cap back on, stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "I don't know about you, but expressing my emotions really works up my appetite. Wanna catch up with Bianca and Cheren?" She asked. "You can go on ahead. I need to do something." I replied. She looked at me with her trademark lillipup eyes. "Don't take too long, okay?" Hilda said, prodding at my arm. "Who are you, my mother?" I complained. "Your best friend that isn't Cheren." She joked. "You're my best friend? You learn something new everyday." I joked back. Hilda stuck her tongue out at me.

"Anyway, I'll see you at the restau… they didn't tell us where they went, didn't they." Hilda slowly realized. "No, they did not." I said, sighing deeply. "Whatever. I'll give them a call." I said, calling Bianca. "Hilbert? What's up?" Bianca asked as she picked up the Xtransceiver. "You never told us where you were going." I deadpanned. "Oh, right. We're back at the café from earlier. Meet us there!" Bianca cheerily said. "Hilda will be right there. I'll catch up." I replied. "Okay. Bye!" Bianca replied, ending the call.

Hilda stood up and lightly punched me on the arm.. "Catch you later. Don't get into trouble!" She said, giving me a big smile. "I'll see you there." I said.

I crossed my arms as soon as Hilda left the Pokémon center. " _My best friend, huh?_ " I thought. " _Can't exactly deny that. Time to get to business._ "

I stood up and went to find the Pokémon rangers.

* * *

I left the Pokémon center and went over to the café. Bianca and Cheren were inside, digging into their meals. I waved at them to get their attention and took a seat by the table. "Hey, Hilda. Where's Hilbert?" Bianca asked, looking up at me from her steak. "I don't know. He told me to go on ahead because he had something to take care of. Didn't tell me what though." I replied.

"Are you going to order something?" Cheren asked. "Yeah." I waved my hand in the air, trying to get a waiter's attention. A waiter came over to our table and handed me a menu. I decided to order the same thing as Bianca; a bouffalant steak.

"You don't think this steak is made out of…" I trailed off, gulping. Cheren coughed. "I hope not. It's probably with the Pokémon rangers." Cheren said, trying to assuage my fears. "Phew." I sighed.

My food arrived pretty quickly, and I dug in as if I hadn't eaten in weeks. " _I'd take Hilbert's cooking any day, but this isn't bad too…_ " I allowed my thoughts to wander. "Where are you guys staying tonight?" Bianca asked. "I was thinking of lodging with Hilbert over by the Pokémon center. Apparently, they're free for trainers to use, but we can only stay there a maximum of two days and two nights to make room for other trainers." Cheren said.

"I see. Why just with Hilbert, though?" I asked, not looking up from my meal. "Isn't it obvious? There's no way any self respecting establishment such as the Pokémon center would allow guys and girls to bunk together." Cheren said. "Gee, Cheren, I didn't think you were such a prude." I said, chuckling. "Prude I may be, but I'm completely positive that boys and girls can't bunk together." Cheren huffed. "Wanna bet?" I goaded Cheren.

"What are the terms?" Cheren asked, eyeing me suspiciously. "Once Hilbert gets back, I'll try to get a room with him. If the nurse lets us in, I win, and if she doesn't, you win. Loser treats us all to breakfast tomorrow." I said. "Fine. Call Hilbert. The four of us need to be there for this, after all." Cheren said, gesturing to my Xtransceiver. "Fine." I said.

I called Hilbert on the Xtransceiver, but he wouldn't pick up. I called him again, but he still didn't pick up. "Hilbert isn't picking up." I said. Cheren raised an eyebrow and called him. "Nothing from my end either." He said. Bianca called Hilbert as well, but only shook her head.

"What do you think he's doing…?" Cheren trailed off.

* * *

I went over to the nurse in the middle of the Pokémon center. "Hi! Would you like me to heal your Pokémon?" She said, gesturing to the Pokémon healing machine.. "Sure, but I want to ask something." I said, handing the nurse Blade's Pokéball. She took the Pokéball from me and placed it in the healing machine. "Of course. What would you like to ask?" She said. "Do you know where the Pokémon rangers are staying? I have a few questions I'd like to ask them." I said, getting straight to the point.

"The Pokémon rangers? They're staying over in room 4. Do you have business with them?" The nurse asked, looking apprehensive. "Yes. I was involved in the incidents earlier." I said. "I see… I'm sure they'd be more than happy to talk to you." She said, still smiling. I politely nodded to her and went up the stairs.

I found the door to room 4 and knocked thrice. A few seconds later, the Pokémon ranger from earlier opened the door. "Oh, you're the guy from earlier! Welcome!" He said, vigorously shaking my hand. "Ow, ow. Hello." I said, trying to free myself from his iron grip.

"What brings you here?" He asked. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Claude, a Pokémon ranger stationed here in the southeast region of Unova." Claude said. "My name is Hilbert. I'm a rookie trainer from Nuvema Town." I introduced myself. "Come in, take a seat. We have lots to talk about, I bet." Claude said, beckoning me inside.

The room looked like a pretty standard inn room. Two bunk beds on each side of the wall, a study table by the door, and a bathroom. I looked over the beds and noticed three other people, two of which were fast asleep. The other was sitting upright by the edge of the bed, doing something on her Xtransceiver.

"Is this a bad time? You all seem exhausted." I said. "No, no, it's fine. Those two are wiped out from putting out the fire. Brenda over there still has some work to do." Claude explained. "I see." I said, taking a seat on the chair by the desk. "You're here to talk about the wild Pokémon incidents earlier, I gather." Claude said, getting straight to the point. I nodded. "Yes. I wanted to ask about the wild Pokémon." I said.

"What would you like to know?" Claude said, bringing up a chair and sitting in front of me. "Was there anything suspect about the Pokémon we fought?" I asked. "Suspect? Well, for starters, it's weird that they were even in the area in the first place." He said. "Sure, there are wild Pokémon just as strong, or maybe stronger than that scolipede off the coast of Route 1, where I'm usually at, but there aren't even any venipede there. There's no chance a scolipede snuck into Route 1 somehow anyway, because none of the trainers milling about saw one. Heck, even on the off chance that a scolipede snuck through them, that doesn't explain the bouffalant and darmanitan, which are endemic to areas even further than Pinwheel Forest." Claude rambled.

I tried to wrap my head around what Claude was saying. "So what you're saying is, those Pokémon are not supposed to be there, and you can't figure out why." I summarized. "That's the gist of it, yeah. We were planning on asking the Pokémon themselves a couple questions once they woke up. Maybe we could figure something out then." Claude admitted. I nodded. "I see. Thanks for the info." I said, thanking the Pokémon ranger.

I stood up to leave, when Claude suddenly stopped me. "Hold on, let's register each other in the Xtransceiver. If you're going to be traveling around Unova, you might run into more of those dangerous wild Pokémon. If you do, give me a call." Claude said, fiddling with his Xtransceiver. "Good call. Thank you." I said, raising my wrist to access mine.

Claude and I exchanged Xtransceiver details. After that, I left the room, heading back downstairs. " _I should probably reserve the room for the four of us while I'm here."_ I thought. I went back over to the nurse. "

Welcome back. Did you find what you were looking for?" The nurse cheerily asked. "I did. Can I rent a room for four?" I asked, passing the nurse my trainer card. "Certainly! Pokémon centers typically don't mind if men and women bunk together, as I'm sure you've noticed in the Pokémon rangers' room." The nurse said, accepting my trainer ID and typing something into a computer. "I see. Thank you." I said, retrieving my trainer card from the nurse. "You're very welcome. You're in room 1, by the way. We hope to see you again!" She said as politely bowed to me as I exited the Pokémon center.

I made my way back to the café and found the other three. I walked over to them and took my seat on the empty chair beside Cheren. "I'm back." I said. I waved a waiter over and placed an order for a pignite porkchop. "What were you off doing?" Cheren asked. "I went to talk to the Pokémon rangers." I said as the waiter came and brought me my order. "Did you find anything out?" Hilda asked, staring at my plate. " _Considering her partner is a tepig, I wouldn't be surprised if she found this unnerving…"_ I mused to myself.

"Pretty much the same thing the professor told us. The Pokémon weren't supposed to be there, and were causing havoc all around the routes. I did get one of the rangers' contact information, though, so in case we run into any more incidents like that, we can give them a call." I said, gesturing to my Xtransceiver. Hilda squinted at me.

Cheren nodded. "Good call, Hilbert. Being able to contact a Pokémon ranger is a highly useful thing to have, especially with incidents like these. I hope that we never have to give them a call though, because by then…" Cheren trailed off, the implication obvious.

"Oh yeah. Hilbert, let's reserve a room at the Pokémon center later." Hilda said, changing the topic. "No need to. I already did." I said, bringing a spoonful of food to my mouth. Cheren and Hilda blinked, glanced at each other, then stared at me so hard I could feel their eyes boring holes in my head. "Who did you reserve rooms for? Out of curiosity." Cheren asked, coughing. "For the four of us, obviously." I said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, because it was.

"One room for all of us? Or separate rooms for you and Cheren, and me and Bianca?" Hilda prodded. "Of course one room for all of us. We have to be considerate of the other trainers." I said, still working on my meal. "Hilbert, I don't think you should be talking about being considerate…" Hilda said, still staring at me. "Why is that?" I asked. "No reason." She said, sighing.

"Anyway," Hilda suddenly chirped. "Thanks to you, Hilbert, we're all getting a free breakfast tomorrow, courtesy of Cheren!" She said, smiling. "Did you two make a bet or something?" I asked. "Something like that." Hilda said, still smiling. I looked over at Cheren, and he seemed distraught. "I was sure I would win…" He mumbled.

Bianca could only grimace at the turn of events. "A-Anyway…" She said. "Are you guys heading to the Pokémon center after this?" Bianca asked, changing the subject. "Yeah. I'm beat!" Hilda said, stretching her arms up high. "Me too." I said. Cheren simply nodded in affirmation. "Okay, let's head back to the Pokémon center after Hilbert finishes eating." Bianca said.

I finished my meal and we all split the bill. The four of us made our way back to the Pokémon center, where I guided them to our room after they got their partners healed.

Our room was the exact same as the Pokémon rangers' room, which is to be expected. "Dibs on the top bunk on the left!" Hilda announced, quickly climbing up the ladder to the top bunk. "I'll take the bottom bunk, then." Bianca said, sitting down on the bed. "I'd like the bottom bunk if it's okay with you, Hilbert." Cheren asked politely. "By all means. I'm fine with the top bunk myself." I said, climbing up and getting myself settled in.

I took my jacket off, revealing a black tank top similar to the one I wore earlier this morning. I took off my pants and slipped into some comfortable black shorts, again not unlike the shorts I wore earlier. Soon enough, everyone changed into their sleepwear, the girls obviously changing in the bathroom.

I let Blade out of his Pokéball. He squinted his eyes at me at the sudden calling, but I held an Oran berry out for him to eat. He slowly took it from my palm and started munching on it. "Wanna sleep on the bed with me, Blade?" I asked the oshawott. He slowly nodded, making himself comfortable near my feet. I smiled at how peaceful he looked.

Checking my Xtransceiver, I noticed that the time was 8:30 PM. Not too early, but again, not too late. It felt wasteful to go to sleep this early, so I climbed down my bunk bed and took a seat by the desk.

"Hilbert…?" I heard a voice come from the beds. I looked back, and noticed that Bianca was looking at me. She was dressed in a simple, white nightgown, her short, blonde hair tied in a bun. "Aren't you going to sleep?" She asked, yawning. "In a little while. It's a little too early for my tastes." I said. I looked up at Hilda's bunk and down at Cheren's bunk, noticing that both of them were fast asleep. "I suppose it's not too early for those two, though." I said, chuckling to myself. "They usually sleep early, so I guess it's to be expected." Bianca said, also chuckling. "Want to head downstairs and grab a drink?" Bianca tentatively asked. "Okay." I said, as we left the room.

I bought one bottle of Moomoo milk and gave one to Bianca. "I'll pay you when we get back to the room." She said, taking the bottle. "It's my treat." I said. "You're too kind, Hilbert. Really." She said, smiling. We took our seats across each other at the lounge.

"They say Moomoo milk is from a Pokémon called miltank, native to the Johto region." I said. "A miltank? What kind of Pokémon is that?" Bianca asked. I looked at the bottle. "From what I've seen on TV, it's a pink, bovine-like Pokémon." I explained. "Oh, I see. Well, let's have a taste!" Bianca said, bringing the bottle to her lips.

"Mmm, this is yummy! I can see why this is so popular." Bianca said, greedily gulping the milk down. "Admittedly, it's not my first time having it, but the taste never fails to deliver." I said, taking liberal sips of the Moomoo milk.

"Anyway, did you want to talk to me about something?" I asked. "Aww… you could tell?" Bianca said, pouting. "I figured. It's not often that we're alone together." I said, taking another sip. "Nothing in particular, really. I felt like it was too early to hit the hay, and wanted someone to talk to." Bianca said.

"It's our first day as trainers. How are you feeling?" I asked. "I should be asking you that, honestly! You and Hilda had to fight off that huge scolipede, after all. Bianca said, giggling. "This is about you, not me." I said, sighing.

"So considerate. Well, it was a pretty fun afternoon. I actually managed to catch a Pokémon!" Bianca said. "Really. What kind?" I asked. "Her name is Coco, and she's a cute little lillipup. She was a lot nicer than the other lillipup we saw!" Bianca said. "At least you saw wild Pokémon." I said, turning away.

"Oh… right. Sorry, Hilbert." Bianca said, sulking. "It's nothing. You helped by bringing the Pokémon ranger over, anyway." I said, trying to reassure her. "Really? That's great to hear!" Bianca said, perking up. " _Too bubbly._ " I said.

"The Pokémon ranger is a nice guy, if a little excitable. His name is Claude, by the way." I said. "Claude… actually, I've met him before." Bianca said. "Really? You have?" I asked. "Yeah. Whenever I'm helping Professor Juniper out with field work, Claude's usually around to protect us. He's normally stationed in Route 1, so we run into him a lot." Bianca said.

"That's interesting. Do you go out with the professor often?" I asked. "Hmm, not often. If I'm around the lab and she decides she wants to go out, she usually drags me along." Bianca said. "This must be why her lab is such a mess…" I trailed off, my expression darkening. "Hilbert, give the professor some credit…" Bianca said, trying to placate me.

I sighed. "I know. It's just hard not to get irritated at her being a slob." I said. "I'm not sure if slob is the kindest way to put it…" Bianca said. "Whatever." I said, looking away from her. "It's never a boring conversation with you, Hilbert. Really." Bianca said. "I'm not sure if that's supposed to be a compliment or a slight." I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "It's a compliment. Promise." Bianca said, smiling sweetly at me.

"If you say so." I said, then took another sip of Moomoo milk. Bianca's gaze trailed onto my Moomoo milk, then onto my wrist. "Ooh, what's that?" Bianca said, pointing to my bracelet. "A gift from my father." I said. "Your father? I've never met him. What's he like?" Bianca asked, almost shoving her face in front of mine.

"I never knew him." I said, then ran my fingers across the bracelet. Bianca immediately balked and looked apologetic. "I'm sorry…" She said, apologizing. "It's alright. You couldn't have known." I said. "Sensitive topic, huh…" Bianca trailed off. I only nodded in reply.

"The only thing I know about him is that my mother loved him. Still does." I said, smiling sadly. "Even after all these years?" Bianca asked. "...Yeah." I said. "I see… sorry for bringing up old memories like that." Bianca said, lowering her head to me. "Really. It's fine. You don't need to be like that." I said.

Bianca immediately perked up and finished her Moomoo milk. "Thanks for the talk, Hilbert. I'm going to head up now." She said, her attitude all smiles now. " _A formidable actress._ " I thought. "I'll stay down here for a little longer. See you." I said. "Bye bye!" Bianca said as she waved at me. She got off her seat and went upstairs, a spring in her step.

I chuckled to myself at Bianca's attitude, then finished my drink. " _Well, time to go to bed._ " I thought, then rose from my seat.


	4. A Reason to Fight

_I was five years old. Gentle rays of sunlight slowly poured into my room, rousing me from my slumber. I slowly opened my eyes and looked at the clock beside me._ "8:30…" _I mumbled. I stretched my little arms as high as I possibly could, and slowly got off my bed. I gingerly folded my blanket and arranged my pillows, making it seem as if nobody had slept on my bed the night before. I smiled, proud at myself._

_I left my room and went downstairs, where I was greeted by the aroma of freshly cooked breakfast. My mother was by the kitchen, in front of the stove where the aroma was coming from. Her bright, emerald pendant was perched right above her chest. My father was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper. I walked up to my mother, greeted her good morning and gave her a wide hug. Though, due to how short I was, I was only able to hug her waist. She ruffled my hair and told me to go give my dad a hug._

_I ran up to my dad and hugged him from the side, knocking him over. He laughed his usual loud, boisterous laugh that always filled my heart with joy. He gave me a kiss on the forehead and turned the TV on, where my favorite cartoon was showing. I glued my eyes to the TV, not missing any second of it._

I woke up with a start. " _That dream again…"_ Smokey was sleeping right beside me, gently snoring as a tepig usually did. The desk lamp was on, slightly illuminating the room, letting me see a little bit of my surroundings. I checked my Xtransceiver for the time. " _3 AM…"_ I sighed, knowing I'd have difficulty going back to sleep after this.

I peeked over to my left, and vaguely saw Hilbert fast asleep over on his bunk. He was turned on his side, exposing his back to me. It was hard to tell, but I could vaguely notice that he was wearing the same shirt from yesterday morning. " _Maybe he packed light…?"_ I wondered to myself. Shaking my head, I slowly climbed down from my bunk so as to not wake anybody up. I gently opened the door and slipped outside of the room.

Luckily, I was dressed reasonably: a baggy shirt over my upper body and pajama pants over my legs, my long hair hanging loose around my shoulders. I looked down over the ledge and spotted a couple other trainers, some of which were dressed similarly to me. I let out a sigh of relief knowing that I wouldn't be stared at weirdly and made my way down the stairs.

I went over to the mini café by the vendors and ordered a drink. "Surprise me." I said, tousling my hair. The server, an older man with a muscular build, nodded and took a bottle with a cream colored drink in it from the fridge. "It's Moomoo milk. A specialty from Johto. Trainers love it." The server said as he handed me the bottle. "Thank you." I said, paying for my drink.

I opened the bottle and took a drink, surprised at how good it tasted. "I can see why trainers love it. This is great." I said, staring at the bottle. "Glad to hear it, miss. We fly 'em in straight from the Moomoo Farm in Johto every day. Nothing but the best for our trainers, I say." The server explained. I took a hearty swig from the bottle. "I might have to come back later for more. Think you've got some more in stock? I'd love for my friends to try this too." I said, smiling. "We're about to run out, actually, but we've got a shipment coming in a couple hours from now." The server said, checking his Xtransceiver. "Actually, it might come sooner than I think." He said.

The doors to the Pokémon center suddenly flew open, and two gurdurr walked in. The gurdurr were balancing crates of Moomoo milk on their girders, the crates somehow not tipping over. The server went to the gurdurr, took the crates one by one from them and placed them behind the counter.

"Here's your order!" A voice chirped from outside the Pokémon center. The owner of the voice entered, revealing herself to be a young woman with long, red hair. She was slightly tanned, and wore a blue outfit exposing her midriff and legs. "Much obliged, Skyla. The trainers will be happy to hear this." The server said, handing the woman an envelope. She graciously took it with a bow. "It's no problem at all. Anything for the trainers!" She said, shaking the server's hand.

"Hey there, are you a trainer?" The woman turned to me and asked. "I am. I just started, though." I said, awkwardly rubbing the back of my head. "Hey, everyone's gotta start somewhere. You gunning for the Gym challenge?" She followed up. "The Gym challenge? I think I heard my friend mention that before…" I said, recalling a previous conversation with Cheren and Bianca from way back when.

"You know! Traveling all around Unova, challenging all eight gyms and then eventually, challenging the Pokémon League!" Skyla said. "I see…" I said, contemplating. "You should totally try out the Gym challenge. It's a great way to bond with your Pokémon and become stronger as a trainer!" Skyla cheerily said. "I'll think about it. I do want to get stronger…" I trailed off. "Well, the Gym challenge is one of the best ways to get stronger. Incidentally, the nearest gym from here is over at Striaton City, which is past Route 2." She said, nodding.

"Oh, I have another delivery to make. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again if you decide to take the Gym challenge. Toodles!" Skyla said, waving as she exited the Pokémon center. I waved goodbye, even though she couldn't see me.

I looked back over to the server. "Who was that?" I asked. "That was Skyla, a promising young pilot from Mistralton City. She also happens to be that city's gym leader." He explained. "I see… she seems pleasant." I said, looking at the doors to the Pokémon center. "She's a peach, that one. Always comes in here in the brightest of moods, no matter the hour." The server said.

"You plan on taking the Gym challenge, miss? Lots of trainers drop out midway due to how hard it is." He asked. I crossed my arms. "I don't know… I do want to get stronger, but it might be too much for me. All I was originally planning was to explore Unova with my friends and fill out the Pokédex." I said. "A noble motivation, if I do say so myself. It might not be my place to say this, miss, but you really don't know until you try." He said. "I guess… maybe I'll at least challenge the gym in Striaton City." I replied.

The server passed me a bottle of Moomoo milk and sat on the stool beside me. "You know, miss, I've helped out a lot of trainers over the years. I'm a trainer myself, actually. I can tell if a trainer's having some problems. You wanna talk about it?" He offered. "The Moomoo milk's on the house, by the way. As thanks for keeping me company." He added on. I looked at the server, then back at the milk, and finally down at the counter.

"I don't know… I'm just scared. I know I need to get stronger, but I'm afraid of getting stronger. It's irrational, I know, but there's this sinking feeling in the pit of my gut that tells me that if I get stronger, eventually I'll have to fight stronger things, and I might end up facing a challenge I can't overcome. And that scares me." I said, my thoughts escaping out of my head. The server closed his eyes and nodded. "Tell me about these friends of yours, miss. What are they like?" He asked.

"Well, there are three of them. Cheren is sort of the academic type, always trying to learn new things. He's a little bit of a prude, though." I said, giggling. "The next one is Bianca. A bubbly, sweet girl who's been my friend since I was a kid. I've never met anyone kinder than her. And lastly, there's Hilbert. He's a straightforward guy who loves teasing me, so we end up fighting a lot." I continued. "They all seem like pretty reliable people." He said.

"They are! I wouldn't trade them for the world." I said, smiling. "No trainer is an island, miss. There isn't a single Pokémon trainer out there that hasn't grown without the help of another." He said. "If you face a seemingly insurmountable challenge, then what's stopping you from asking them for help? I'm sure they aren't weak, by any means." He said.

I closed my eyes. "I don't want to be a burden to them. Earlier, I was faced by one of the challenges I'd been so afraid of. It was only through Hilbert's planning and a lot of luck that we were able to make it through the way we did." I said, sighing. The server raised an eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to be one of the trainers that took down that scolipede over by Route 1, right?" He asked. "That would be me. Me and Hilbert." I said.

The server stared at me, his eyes the size of dinner plates. "Let me get this straight. You and that Hilbert guy took on a scolipede without even a single Gym badge?" He asked. "Like I said, we got lucky. My tepig managed to burn it, making it a lot weaker. And even then, it managed to steal his oshawott's Oran berry, making it even tougher." I explained.

"Well, when you put it like that…" He said, trailing off. "Miss, I'm sure this sounds cheesy, but if you and your friends get stronger, then there's no challenge you can't overcome. I'm sure of it." The server said, a smile forming on his face. "Haha… I'm not so sure about that." I said, wistfully. "Why is that?" He asked.

"It's nothing. I'll take on the Striation Gym. I'm sure Cheren and Bianca will, too. Not sure about Hilbert, though…" I said. "He seems like a character, that Hilbert guy. From what you say, he picks fights with you, somehow manages to lead you two into a victory against that scolipede, and you can't even tell if he wants to go on the Gym challenge." He said. "Haha, it's nothing that deep. He just goes at his own pace, is all." I said, chuckling to myself. "Ah, I gotcha." The server said.

I checked my Xtransceiver. " _3:30 AM…_ " I stood up and took a bottle of Moomoo milk. "Thanks for the advice, mister. The trainers who come here must be lucky to have such a nice guy giving them advice." I said, genuinely smiling. "Oh, stop it. You'll make an old man like me blush." He said, waving it off. "Here, take these. For your friends." The server said, handing me three Moomoo milk bottles. "Are you sure? You've given me a lot today…" I asked, hesitant. "You've given me more, miss. Nothing is more valuable than helping a trainer in need." He said, urging me to take the bottles.

"Thank you very much. I'll give it to them in the morning." I said, graciously accepting the Moomoo milk. "That's great. Good night, miss!" He said, giving me a polite wave. I nodded at him and went back upstairs to our room.

I slowly opened the door and went inside. To my surprise, Cheren was sitting by the desk, reading a book. He was dressed in a simple white muscle shirt and baggy black pants. He looked up from his book and turned to face me. "Hilda?" He whispered. "Sorry, I went downstairs to grab a drink." I said, looking down at the bottles of milk in my hands. I gently set them down on the table and passed one to Cheren. "Here." I whispered.

Cheren took the bottle, opened it and took a sip. "Delicious. Hilbert said these were good, but there's a real difference from hearing it tastes good and actually tasting it." Cheren remarked. I giggled. "Yeah, there is." I said, nodding my head.

I pulled a chair over and sat beside Cheren, resting my elbows on the desk. "Did you want to talk about something, Hilda?" Cheren asked, not looking up from his book. "Actually, yeah." I said. Cheren slipped a bookmark between the pages of the book and closed it, then turned to face me. "About?" He asked.

"Are you planning on taking the Gym challenge?" I asked. "Of course. It's the goal of any aspiring trainer. I'd say it's a rite of passage, even." Cheren said. "Really? I thought that not every trainer finishes it." I said, confused. "Yes. Not every trainer finishes it, but a vast majority at least start it. I'd estimate around seventy to eighty percent of trainers have at least one badge under their belt." Cheren said.

"I see." I curtly replied, then broke into a small giggle. "Did I say something funny?" Cheren asked, squinting his eyes at me. "No, I wasn't laughing at you." I said, still giggling a bit. "Then what were you laughing at?" He asked.

"Myself." I said, closing my eyes. "Yourself? Why?" Cheren asked. "No reason, really. Just thinking of how much of an idiot I was. Nearly giving up on something before I even tried it." I said. "Oh, were you planning on taking the Gym challenge too?" Cheren asked again. "At first, no. I was too afraid of what would come afterwards." I said. "I'm sorry if I'm asking so many questions, but what exactly do you think would 'come afterwards'"? Cheren said, emphasizing with air quotes.

"Cheren," I started. "Do you want to become stronger?" I asked him, looking him straight in the eyes. He looked into mine with an expression of fierce determination. "Of course I am. It's the whole reason I started this journey in the first place." He said, his voice firm. "I see. I want to get stronger too." I replied, my voice just as firm. "Then take the Gym challenge. No doubt, by undergoing those trials, you'll get stronger than you'll ever imagine." Cheren replied.

I broke eye contact with him and giggled. "Haha... I can't believe it was that simple." I said, faux-wiping a tear from my eye. "Huh?" Cheren asked. "Ah, it's nothing. I was just overthinking. Anyway, good night, Cheren. I'm glad we had this talk." I said. I stood up and pushed the chair back and climbed up to my bunk. "Hilda." Cheren called out. "Yes?" I asked.

"After we both get our badges from the Striaton Gym, let's have a battle. To see just how strong we've become." Cheren said, pointing a finger at me. I awkwardly laughed. "I don't think we'll get _that_ strong in the blink of an eye, but you're on. Just you and me." I replied, pointing a finger back at him.

Cheren nodded, then turned the desk lamp off. "Good night, Hilda." He said, returning to his bunk. "Sweet dreams." I replied.

I placed my head on the pillow and brought the blanket up to my chest. Smokey was still sound asleep, snoring adorably. I closed my eyes and began to think.

" _I just need to get stronger. I need to get stronger so that I don't need to rely on chance to survive."_ I thought, then my thoughts drifted to what the server told me. " _And if I find an obstacle I just can't break through, I shouldn't be afraid to rely on my friends… even if I might be a burden to them. Even though I am._ " I thought, the dark thoughts inevitably popping up near the end. " _No, no, no. I'm not a burden. At least I won't be then, if I get stronger…_ " I thought, eventually drifting off into a deep sleep.

* * *

I was suffocating. My chest felt tight and heavy, and I could barely even breathe through my nostrils. I opened my eyes, but there was no light; nothing that could help me see past this impenetrable dark. I could barely even flail around my arms and legs, as the lack of oxygen was making itself apparently in my system.

"Osha…" I heard. That was Blade's voice. " _Where did that come from?"_ I managed to think through the pain. I realized that the voice was coming from right above my head. I brought my hands up to my head and grabbed whatever was suffocating me, and lifted it up.

"Osha…" Blade mumbled, still fast asleep. " _Blade fell asleep on my face!"_ I internally cried. I slowly lifted my head to look in front of me, and found Smokey sleeping on my chest, weighing me down. I set Blade down beside my head and gently moved Smokey off my chest and onto the bed.

I took in a few gulps of air to regain my composure, and stared at the two adorable critters, still fast asleep. " _This would be a lot more adorable if those two didn't nearly asphyxiate me."_ I thought. I looked over to the opposite bunk and saw that it was empty, save for Hilda's belongings. " _Where could she be?"_ I thought.

I climbed down the ladder and noticed that Cheren and Bianca were strangely absent as well. " _Where did they go?"_ I thought. I could vaguely hear someone humming in the bathroom, accompanied by the sound of running water. " _Someone must be taking a shower."_

I looked over at Bianca's bed and saw Jolts wrapped up in a small blanket, fast asleep. Turning my head to inspect Cheren's, I saw Crown laying on his belly, snoozing into a pillow. I went over to the desk and saw a bottle of Moomoo milk on the desk with a piece of paper below it. I took the paper out from under it and recognized Hilda's handwriting.

"Dear Hilbert,

For you! Enjoy~" It said.

I read the note and smiled. " _How considerate of her. Moomoo milk is delicious._ " I thought. I took a seat, opened the bottle and took a sip. The Moomoo milk was truly revitalizing, curing most of the residual sleepiness I had from the previous night.

The door to the bathroom opened. Instinctively, I turned around to see who it was, only to be greeted by the sight of Hilda in a towel. I blinked. "Good morning, Hild-" "Kyah!" She shouted, running back into the bathroom.

"Sorry, should I not have turned around?" I asked, apologizing. "N-No, it's fine, I thought you were still asleep." Hilda said from behind the door. "Do you want me to fetch your clothes for you? Or I could step out…" I offered. "No, no, it's okay." Hilda said. I turned my head back around, facing the desk.

I could hear the door opening from behind me. Not wanting to embarrass Hilda even further, I stared at the Moomoo milk bottle in front of me. "It's okay, Hilbert. You can turn around." Hilda nervously said. "Won't you be embarrassed?" I asked, still facing forward. "It's alright. If it's you, I know you won't judge me. It's not the first time you've seen me in a towel, anyway." She said.

I slowly turned around and took a good look at Hilda. Her hair was damp and draped over her shoulders, while the towel wrapped around her hugged her curves and really accentuated her hips. "Hilbert, you're staring." Hilda said, eyes averted from me. A small blush formed on her cheeks. "Sorry. Was that uncalled for?" I asked. She simply shook her head.

"So… how do I look?" Hilda asked. " _My answer to this question will determine whether I live or die."_ I thought, my expression darkening. "H-Hilbert?" She asked, perhaps noticing my expression. "You look great, as always." I curtly said, trying my hardest not to say anything creepy. "Is that all…?" She pensively asked. " _Damn, I'm not getting out of this one. I better just be honest."_ I thought. "I don't know what to say without sounding like a creep. I'm sorry." I admitted. Hilda turned her gaze to me and smiled. "Oh, you don't have to be considerate of me. Just be honest." She said. I gulped.

"Fine, if you say so… I was thinking that the towel really makes your curves stand out." I admitted, my voice low enough to practically be a whisper. "Do you like that…?" She asked, averting her gaze from me once more. "I… like it, personally." I said, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible.

Hilda giggled, and broke out into a fit of laughter. "Why are you laughing?" I asked, truly puzzled. "I'm sorry! I just wanted to mess with you. You know, as revenge for all the other times you've teased me before. Your face right now is adorable, by the way." Hilda said, wiping a tear from her eyes. I sighed, but smiled nonetheless. "What goes around, comes around, I suppose." I said, sighing.

"Go take a shower. I may be reasonably comfortable being in a towel in front of you, but changing in front of you is way too embarrassing. I don't even change in front of Bianca, you know?" She said, then grabbed my shoulders. "Hey! Your hands are still wet. Fine, fine, I'll get into the shower." I said. "Besides, it's not the first time I've seen you in a towel, anyway." I pointed out.

Hilda glared at me for a second, then relented. "I guess. We should have another sleepover sometime." Hilda said. "Didn't we just have one? Just last night?" I pointed out again. "Ah, that doesn't count. Just the two of us, you know?" She said, grinning at me. "Just like old times." I said, sighing.

"Why were you acting so coy, anyway?" I asked. "You wouldn't? We've seen each other in towels before, but it's still kinda embarrassing. Plus, I think I put on some weight recently because of you." Hilda said. "You're blaming it on me? Cut the carbs, and then we'll talk." I deadpanned. "Ugh, fine. All that cake goes to my thighs, anyway." Hilda said. I instinctively glanced downwards at her thighs. " _They did indeed go to her thighs._ " I observed. "Enjoying the scenery?" Hilda said, glaring at me. "Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

I stood up from the desk and stripped down to my boxers. Hilda yelped in surprise and covered her eyes. "Hilbert! What the hell are you doing?!" Hilda asked, still covering her face. "I'm preparing to take a shower?" I said, staring at her. "Strip in the bathroom, not here! Have some decency!" Hilda sputtered out, incredibly flustered. "You're the one who teased me using their 'toweled body'." I remarked.

"Grr…" She growled. "Fine, fine. I'll cover myself up." I said. I reached up to my bunk and took a towel out of my bag. I wrapped the towel around my waist, perfectly covering my boxers. "Happy?" I said, narrowing my eyes at Hilda. "Ugh, it doesn't even make that much of a difference." Hilda said, lowering her hands from her face.

I sighed and entered the bathroom where I took a quick shower to rinse the fatigue from yesterday off. I wrapped the towel around my waist and left the bathroom. Hilda was sitting by the desk, dressed in her traveling attire. She was blow drying her hair while reading from a pamphlet. "What's that?" I asked from over her shoulder. "Put on some clothes first, pervert." She said. "You're one to talk." I pointed out. Hilda simply stuck her tongue out at me, but I could tell she was smiling.

I went up to my bunk and replaced the towel around my waist with my traveling attire. Blade and Smokey were still curled up, somehow still sound asleep through the noise. I climbed back down the bunk and took a seat beside Hilda. "What are you reading?" I asked. "Apparently, a representative from some organization called Team Plasma is giving a speech today. There was this guy with green hair handing out fliers to everyone in the Pokémon center earlier." She said, looking through the pamphlet.

"Team Plasma stands for the liberation of Pokémon across the world…?" I said, noticing the bolded words. "You know what that might mean?" Hilda asked, looking over that part of the pamphlet. "I don't know. Maybe they're one of those Pokémon welfare organizations like the Pokémon Rangers Association." I guessed. "Hmm, could be. You wanna check it out?" Hilda asked, turning to face me. "Sure. I doubt it'll take too long." I said.

Hilda stood up and stuffed the pamphlet in her bag. "Let's meet up with Bianca and Cheren downstairs. They should be having breakfast." Hilda said. I checked my Xtransceiver. "It's already 9 AM? How long was I asleep?" I asked. "Beats me. I put Smokey on your bed a couple hours ago in an attempt to wake you up, but she ended up falling asleep. You must have been really wiped." Hilda said. "I suppose. I'm still slightly groggy, though." I said. "Need a kiss to wake you up? Ehe, just kidding." Hilda joked, sticking her tongue out to me.

I reached out to her, cupped her cheek with my hand, and rested my forehead against hers. "Wh-?" She stuttered. I quickly pulled away as if nothing had happened. "Grr… what did I tell you about not playing with a girl's heart?!" Hilda loudly complained, waking up all the Pokémon in the room. "I just wanted revenge from earlier. I'm sorry." I apologized. Hilda glared at me in retaliation.

I took this opportunity to comment on the pendant hanging around Hilda's neck. "That pendant of yours is very pretty. Is that an emerald?" I asked. "Yeah, it is. I found this in my room before I left. It's mom's." Hilda said, running her index finger up and down the gemstone. "It suits you. It brings out your eyes." I said. "That's so sweet of you to say!" She said, smiling brightly at me.

"You're not wearing that bracelet today?" Hilda asked. "Oh, you noticed?" I replied. "It's pretty hard to ignore a shiny metal bracelet hanging around your wrist. It contrasts your usually dark color scheme, you know?" Hilda commented. "I suppose you're right. Incidentally, the bracelet was a gift from my mother. She said it was my father's." I said. "Seems like we both got mementos from our parents." Hilda said, laughing forlornly. "Yeah. I should put it on." I said. I stood up, retrieved the bracelet from my bag and slipped it over my wrist.

"Oh! That reminds me." Hilda said, then reached into her bag. She took out two books. "Here, it's a copy of _The Mysterious Rotom_." Hilda said, then handed it to me. I looked at the cover, which had a rather post-impressionist rendition of a rotom. "Read in your spare time, okay? And tell me what you think about it." Hilda said, flashing me a smile.

I looked over at the other book she took out. "What's that one?" I asked. "Oh, that one's called _Grayscale_. It's a story about two people who just can't get along." Hilda said. "Sounds kind of like us." I joked. "Really? I think we get along just fine." Hilda said. "Ask literally anyone else, and they'll say we won't. It's not even funny at this point." I said, sighing. "Well, they don't see what happens when it's just the two of us. Let them believe what they want, you know?" Hilda said. smiling. "Can't argue with that logic." I conceded.

"Let's get going. The pamphlet said it would start at 9:30." I said. I recalled Blade into his Pokéball. Hilda did the same with Smokey, then we left the room to go downstairs.

"Hilbert! Hilda!" Bianca loudly said, waving at us from the mini café where I bought the Moomoo milk. Cheren was sitting beside her, drinking from a mug. The two of us made our way over there and took our seats beside them. "Good morning." I greeted them. Cheren nodded and Bianca smiled at me. "Good morning, Hilbert! Did you sleep well?" Bianca asked. "Yes, I did. Almost too well." I replied. "Good morning, mister!" Hilda said to the server. "Miss! I take it these are your friends?" The server jovially said. "Yeah! This is Hilbert, that's Bianca, and over there's Cheren." Hilda introduced us.

"Since when did you get so chummy with him, Hilda?" Cheren asked. "Since last night. I woke up at like 3 AM and couldn't sleep. Mister here gave me a lot of advice. Plus, I got to meet someone pretty cool." Hilda said, hands on her hips. "I see a trainer in need and I can't help but want to lend a hand. It's just the Pokémon trainer's way, you know?" The server said.

"Who did you meet?" Cheren asked. "Skyla, the gym leader of Mistralton City, came here to deliver a package. She was really nice!" I said. "Ooh, that's so cool. What was she like?" Bianca asked. "She was really nice _and_ really chatty. She told me about the Gym challenge too." I said. The server nodded. "Skyla's a nice girl, that one. Always coming in here at any hour of the day to make deliveries." He said.

"Now that I think about it, I never got your name. Mind if I asked for it?" Hilda said. "Oh, my name's Rayne. I guess you could call me a veteran Pokémon trainer." Rayne said, giving us a bow from behind the counter. "A veteran Pokémon trainer? You must be really strong, then." Cheren said, his eyes practically sparkling. "Nah, I'm not that strong. Back in the day, I only managed to get seven out of eight gym badges. That Spartan Mayor is tough stuff, let me tell you that." Rayne said, reminiscing.

"The Spartan Mayor? You mean the mayor of Opelucid City?" Cheren asked. "You're well-read, mister. Though I hear he stepped down from his position as gym leader to focus on governing the city." Rayne said. "I see. Do you think we could have a battle once I become stronger?" Cheren asked. "Of course! I'd never say no to a battle. Especially not from promising young trainers like you." Rayne said, laughing.

"Thank you very much, sir." Cheren said. "I'm curious. Why are you working as a server in a Pokémon center when you could be out there training?" Cheren asked.

Rayne closed his eyes. "I figured it wasn't the road for me to take. Back when I was traveling the region, I felt the most happy when I was out there, talking to my fellow trainers before and after battling them. You get to learn their stories, motivations, and reasons for getting stronger. Once I realized that that was what I truly enjoyed, I hung up my trainer card and applied to work at a Pokémon center. There's no establishment in any region around the world that sees as many trainers come and go as a Pokémon center, so I figured this was the best place for me to be." Rayne said, his eyes still closed. "Well, that's my lot in life anyhow. You guys are young. Use this adventure around Unova to figure out what you really want." He said.

Cheren nodded. "What we really want, huh? I'll keep that in mind." He said. Cheren brought his mug to his lips and finished his drink. I checked the time on my Xtransceiver. "It's 9:25. The event is about to start." I said. "Oh, that Team Plasma thing? I was just about to check it out. You guys coming?" Rayne asked. I nodded. "Yes. Will you be coming with us?" I asked. Rayne nodded. "Then let's go." I said, beckoning at them to go outside.

"Oh, give Cheren and I a minute. We left our Pokémon in the room." Bianca said. Cheren and Bianca quickly returned to the room and recalled their Pokémon, then regrouped with us.

The five of us left the Pokémon center, and were immediately greeted by a huge crowd of people. From the back of the crowd, I spotted a familiar face. "Claude!" I called out. The Pokémon ranger we met yesterday was here, along with another one who I recognized as Brenda. "Hilbert! Hey!" He called out, walking towards us with Brenda in tow.

Claude and Brenda had matching outfits; presumably the uniform of the Pokémon rangers. Unlike yesterday, his blond hair was hidden neatly under his hat, the ends slightly peeking out. Brenda's dark brown hair was similarly tucked under her hat, but some of it flowed freely behind her.

"You guys here for the rally?" Claude asked. "Oh, sorry, where are my manners? I'm Claude, a Pokémon ranger. This is Brenda, my partner. We're already acquainted with Hilbert." He said, introducing himself. Brenda gave a slight curtsy. "Hello, Claude. These are my friends Cheren and Bianca, and I believe you've already met Hilda. Rayne, the server from the Pokémon center, is tagging along with us." I said, introducing the others.

"Yeah, I know Rayne. We come by Accumula Town a lot, after all." Claude said. "That you do, kid." Rayne acknowledged, chuckling. "I know Bianca, too! How you doing?" He said, flashing Bianca an award winning smile. "Claude! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Bianca said, smiling at the ranger.

I pensively closed my eyes and crossed my arms . "Hilbert? Is something wrong?" Bianca asked. "I'm getting a really bad feeling about this." I said. "You don't need to be so afraid. Just listen to what they're about to say." An unfamiliar voice said to my left.

I looked to the left to identify the source of the voice. Standing to my left was a man who looked to be a couple of years older than me. His green hair was kept in place by a baseball cap, a long ponytail flowing out from the back. He was wearing a white, buttonless polo shirt with what seemed to be a black rash guard underneath, with loose beige pants over his legs. His sneakers, in a deep contrast to the rest of his outfit, were green. " _Green hair? Wait…_ " I thought, but shelved that observation for later.

"And you are?" I asked. "Who I am is not important, at least for now. What is important, however, is the speech about to be given. Do pay attention." He said. "I was planning to." I replied. I looked over to the other side, and the others were distracted in conversation with each other. Only Bianca noticed the appearance of this strange man, but didn't seem to notice our conversation through the noise.

The man crossed his arms over his chest and looked straight ahead. "It's beginning." He said. "I'm all ears."

An older man wearing what appeared to be half a visor over his right eye appeared on the stage in front of the crowd. His light green hair was long and flowy, draping down onto his shoulders. The most striking part of this man, however, was his robe. It was gaudily designed - yellow and purple, with a design of a huge eye on each side of the robe. There was a massive crown-like accessory around his shoulders and upper body, with an unfamiliar insignia in the center. " _Something about this man screams 'I am not to be trusted'."_ I thought.

I looked to my left, and the green-haired man was staring at the robed man, a smile on the end of his lips. I paid him no heed and looked back at the robed man.

The robed man tapped the mic, causing feedback to echo all around the town. As he tapped the mic, a group of people dressed incredibly strangely came out from behind him, forming a line. " _Bodyguards?"_ I thought.

The robed man began to speak. "Good morning, citizens of Accumula Town. My name is Ghetsis, and I represent Team Plasma. I have come here to spread our message: the liberation of Pokémon." He calmly said. His voice did not need to be loud for it to capture the attention of the entire audience, ourselves included.

"Liberation of Pokémon…?" I heard Cheren ask. "What does he mean by that?" Rayne followed up. I glanced at the man beside me, and he simply shook his head.

"As you all know, we humans have lived together with Pokémon for as long as we can remember." Ghetsis continued. "Humanity needs Pokémon, and Pokémon needs humanity. This is something that we have firmly believed in since time immemorial." He said. "However," He said, his voice suddenly becoming more forceful. "Is that really true? Or is it a hopeless ideal shared between humans all across the world?" Ghetsis said.

The crowd started to grow unruly. They started to talk amongst themselves, almost drowning out Ghetsis' voice. The man cleared his throat, prompting the entire crowd to fall into silence once more.

"Pokémon trainers order Pokémon to do their bidding; whatever they desire. They work them to the bone, perpetuating a false sense of partnership between them and their Pokémon. Though I may seem like I am exaggerating, can anyone here honestly say there is not a single shred of truth to my words?" Ghetsis asked the crowd.

In a way, he was right. Pokémon trainers indeed order their Pokémon around in whatever manner. " _However, he's missing a few points. Pokémon and humans implicitly trust each other to not push the other too hard. Any Pokémon trainer that abuses their Pokémon, like what he implies, is the scum of the earth."_ I thought.

"Pokémon, as we all know, are beings of limitless potential. Try as the Pokémon professors might to unravel the mysteries behind Pokémon, I can say for certain that they cannot completely understand the phenomenon that is Pokémon within countless lifetimes. Knowing this, what ought our responsibilities be in towards Pokémon?" He asked.

The crowd grew deathly silent; so silent that one could hear a pin fall to the ground. Everyone was visibly tense, eyes focused on the robed man. I looked to my right. Rayne looked suspicious. Claude and Brenda looked outright disgusted. Cheren looked intrigued. Bianca looked terrified. Hilda, however, looked worried.

I nudged at Hilda to get her attention. Her expression turned to one of surprise, raising an eyebrow at me. I raised an eyebrow back. She simply shook her head and grabbed onto my sleeve.

"I believe you may already know what I'm about to say, based on your expressions." Ghetsis said, breaking the silence. "And I am here to confirm your suspicions. That's right, everyone! Our responsibility as trainers is to liberate our Pokémon!" Ghetsis said, his voice booming throughout the town.

"Liberate our Pokémon?!" Bianca exclaimed. "This guy's off his rocker!" Claude said, gritting his teeth. Rayne was visibly shaking his head.

"Only through liberating Pokémon from the clutches of humans are we able to stand equally with them. It is how Team Plasma believes the relationship between Pokémon and humanity should be: free from false truths and hopeless ideals. I will end my speech by giving you all a personal word of advice, but as a representative of Team Plasma, but as a fellow Pokémon trainer." Ghetsis said.

Ghetsis brought out a Pokéball; one that has definitely seen extensive use. "Pokémon are contained in these Pokéballs, as we all know. Do you ever think that Pokémon feel constricted in these contraptions? Did any of you ever stop to consider what it would feel like, being trapped like they are?" Ghetsis asked. "I acknowledge my hypocrisy in using Pokéballs, but as an advocate for Pokémon liberation myself, I feel as though I need to make an example."

Ghetsis clicked the button on the Pokéball and sent out the Pokémon inside. The Pokémon was a watchog, who looked up at Ghetsis. It appeared to be waiting for orders. "Watchog, my dear companion. I apologize for keeping you locked in this infernal device for so long against your will." Ghetsis said, kneeling down to the watchog. "From this day onwards, you will no longer be bound by this Pokéball. You will be free to do whatever you so desire, as long as it pleases you." Ghetsis continued, gently stroking the watchog's head.

Ghetsis then stood up and snapped the Pokéball in half at the hinges, eliciting surprised gasps from the crowd. "No way… did he just release his Pokémon?" Hilda asked. "He's the real deal. Those ideals of his may very well be the truth, if that's the extent he's willing to go for it." Cheren said. I looked over at Claude, who had an unreadable expression. "Is something wrong, Claude?" I asked. "...It's nothing. Just got me thinking." Claude said. "Don't tell me you're going to release your Pokémon too?!" Hilda exclaimed. "Not a vanillite's chance in hell. However…" Claude trailed off.

The watchog nodded at Ghetsis and scampered off, disappearing into the forest. "I invite everyone here to mull over the relationship between humanity and Pokémon. Please give it some thought, and do try to consider what we ought to do moving forward. I, Ghetsis of Team Plasma, humbly appreciate the time you have spared for my speech today." Ghetsis said. He moved away from the microphone and gave a deep bow. The bodyguards from behind him moved to let him pass, and followed him on his way out of town.

I observed the crowd. Everyone seemed too nervous to move, until one person did. And that was all it took.

That person sent out his Pokémon from his Pokéball, then snapped the Pokéball in half. It was a ripple effect; once the first drop fell, the rest followed suit. Slowly, the town grounds were littered with snapped Pokéballs and confused Pokémon. The Pokémon seemed apprehensive at first, but after nudging from their trainers, they ran off into the forest much like the watchog from earlier. The crowd eventually dispersed, leaving nothing but destroyed Pokéballs in their wake.

"Are you not going to join them? Will you not liberate your Pokémon as well?" The man, still beside me, asked. "I don't believe we have the same definition of liberate." I replied. "Oh my. May I speak with your Pokémon, then? Perhaps they may have something to say." The man said, smiling.

"Slow down. You talk too fast." Cheren piped up from behind me. "Apologies! This is merely how I am. I do not judge you for your speech, and neither should you judge mine." The man calmly said. Cheren gritted his teeth. "Can I have the pleasure of your name, at least, before you 'talk' to my Pokémon?" I said.

"Does that mean you are unable to hear your Pokémon's voice? How unfortunate." He said, smirking. "And you are?" I asked. "I am called N, and yes, I am able to hear the voices of Pokémon." N said, giving us a bow. "Hm. I'm Hilbert." I said, extending my hand for a handshake. N graciously took my hand in his and firmly shook it. "May I know the names of the rest of your party?" He asked.

They obliged, giving N their names one by one. "I would like to ask something. What drives you to become Pokémon trainers?" N asked. Cheren took a step forward and stood beside me. "Our official goal - our being myself, Bianca, Hilbert and Hilda - is to complete the Pokédex for Professor Juniper. We all have our own personal goals, however, and I don't believe that's any of your business." Cheren said.

"I find the very idea of a Pokédex to be abhorrent. What gives us humans the right to categorize Pokémon as such? Should we not categorize humans as well?" N asked. "This is a dangerous conversation, N. Especially the latter part." Cheren said, coughing. "Oh, my apologies. I did not think it would be so wrong to play rhetorics." N said, smirking.

"However, my question still stands. Why should we record the Pokémon's data in some device, effectively categorizing them?" N said. "We record the data of Pokémon in order to understand them better. However, it seems that you don't agree with that notion." Cheren said.

"Indeed, I do not. Much like humans, each individual Pokémon has their own traits and nuances. I believe the Pokédex records that as well, under nature and characteristics." N said. "In that regard, you are correct." Cheren conceded. "Then why are you going on this journey if you cannot fully understand every Pokémon in the world?" N asked, his gaze startlingly cold.

"Just because we can't understand every Pokémon in the world doesn't mean that we shouldn't at least try to understand the Pokémon we come across. Or are you saying we should ignore every Pokémon we meet because we can't meet all of them?" Hilda suddenly said, her gaze icy-cold and directed at N. "Hilda, was it? When you put it like that, I guess you shouldn't! Trying to understand even one Pokémon to the fullest extent is difficult, even for me, after all." N said.

"Now then, Hilbert, may I speak with your Pokémon? Hilda, Cheren, Bianca, yours as well." N said. I took Blade's Pokéball out from my bag and sent him out. Hilda, Cheren and Bianca did the same with theirs.

The four of them looked at N, and N reciprocated. "I see, I see… your Pokémon are fascinating. Never before have I heard the voices of Pokémon so attached to their trainers. Would you like to hear what they said in detail?" N offered.

I shook my head. "I would rather want to learn what Blade thinks of me on my own terms. Not from some Pokémon whisperer." I said. "Your will be done. It seems as though your oshawott has taken a liking to you, Hilbert. Would you humor me with a battle?" N asked, bringing out a Pokéball from his pocket.

"A Pokéball? All that talk, and you're using a Pokéball? I suppose hypocrisy is mankind's greatest virtue." I said. "I am a trainer, after all. Do not worry, this 'hypocrisy' you so speak of will be short lived." N said.

"Very well. I accept your challenge. Hilda. Bianca. Cheren. Recall your partners, if you please." I asked. They obliged and returned their Pokémon to their Pokéballs.

N nodded. "Let's begin. Let me hear the voice of your Pokémon!"

N threw his Pokéball onto the ground. A purrloin popped out from it, immediately assuming an attacking stance. Purrloin immediately swiped its claws at Blade, knocking him back. "You're not commanding your purrloin?" I asked. "I don't need to. Our hearts are as one!" N exclaimed.

"Very well. Blade, get some distance and pound it with water gun!" I said. Blade backed off and let loose a powerful water gun, crashing into the purrloin. Purrloin hissed and growled at Blade, causing him to stagger back in fear. "Growl… a move that weakens a Pokémon's physical offenses." I said. "Blade, continue to use water gun! Make sure it can't get anywhere near!" I shouted. "Osha!" Blade cried out before letting loose another water gun. The water gun hit Purrloin square in the face, causing it to stagger back.

"Heh." N chuckled. "What's so funny?" I said, but he didn't reply. The purrloin reached into its fur and pulled out an Oran berry. Purrloin shoved the Oran berry into its mouth, swallowing it in one go. "An Oran berry!" I said, cursing beneath my breath.

Suddenly, Purrloin moved faster than ever before and closed the distance between itself and Blade. Blade couldn't react before receiving a brutal scratch to the torso, causing him to stagger backwards. "It's so fast!" Bianca said. Cheren pulled out his Pokédex. "One of Purrloin's possible abilities is Unburden, a move that dramatically boosts its speed once it consumes its held item. And since it just ate that berry…" Cheren said, the effects clear for all to see.

Purrloin barraged Blade with scratch after scratch, slowly wearing down at his stamina. "Blade, go for a point blank shot!" I said. Seeing an opening in Purrloin's scratches, Blade breathed in and fired water gun at point blank, sending Purrloin flying. Purrloin hissed and growled again, further instilling fear into Blade. "Don't get distracted, Blade! Keep going!" I said. Blade nodded and blasted Purrloin with water gun again, causing it to slam into a wall. Purrloin attempted to get up, but its legs gave out before it could stand. It collapsed to the ground, defeated.

N walked over to Purrloin and sprayed it with a potion, fully healing its wounds. "Thank you, Purrloin. You did very well against such a powerful foe." N said. Purrloin affectionately rubbed its face against N's leg, to which N responded by stroking its head. "You are free now, Purrloin. Thank you for your company, as short as it may have been." N said as he pulled out Purrloin's Pokéball. Without hesitating, he snapped it in half and dropped the remains onto the ground beneath him. Purrloin meowed and licked his hand, then ran into the forest.

I watched N and Purrloin in silence. Unlike Ghetsis, who I assume released his watchog for theatrics, N seemed completely genuine about his feelings for Purrloin. Everyone present watched the scene, unable to say anything.

"Even though I freed Purrloin of its bondage, I still heard its voice and understood its feelings. As long as Pokémon are kept in Pokéballs, they will never become perfect beings, and we - as humans - will have failed our responsibility to them." N said, lowering the front of his cap.

"It is for this reason that I fight. For the sake of my friends - Pokémon all around the world - I will strive to change the world, starting with Unova. I hope to see you all again." N said. He picked up the remains of the Pokéball and slipped it into his pocket, then walked away into the forest.

We stood there for what felt like hours, nobody saying a word.

* * *

I was stunned. This entire time, I'd been looking for a reason to fight. A reason to travel. A reason to get stronger. And just then, I bore witness to what was possibly the purest reason to fight. " _To fight for the sake of his friends…"_ I thought.

I felt my own reason to fight shatter beneath the weight of N's. He had a true, clear-cut goal and would do anything to achieve it. And there I was, floundering because I was too scared to even figure out a reason to fight.

I glanced at Rayne, who had counseled me the previous night. He convinced me to rely on my friends if the tough gets going. I glanced over at Cheren, who convinced me to truly undertake the Gym challenge and become stronger.

Finally, I cast my gaze to where N ran off. The man whose motivations were to fight for his friends. I didn't realize it then, but N's reason to fight wasn't much different from my own. Eventually, I would learn to fight for the sake of my friends. Learning that lesson, however, would prove to be a difficult journey. One that I couldn't hope to travel alone.

One by one, we headed back into the Pokémon center. Before I could go inside, a hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned around and saw Hilbert, his expression darker than I'd ever seen before.

"Hilda. I just want to ask you something." Hilbert asked, his expression devoid of any emotion. I gulped. "Yes?" I replied, fear clear in my tone.

"What's your reason for fighting?" Hilbert asked, staring straight into my soul. "My reason for fighting…" I trailed off, closing my eyes. "I fight to become stronger. I want to become stronger, so that I don't become a burden to you all." I said.

I opened my eyes and saw Hilbert nodding. "I see. Thank you for telling me." Hilbert said, staring straight into my eyes. His expression was still unchanged. "So, Hilbert… what's your reason to fight?" I asked, meeting his gaze.

It was Hilbert's turn to close his eyes. "I don't know." He said, his expression darkening further. " _He seems distraught. Maybe I'll try to calm him down. I don't know how, but… I guess this might work._ "

"I see…" I said. I slowly walked up to Hilbert and embraced him, running my hands across his back. Hilbert seemed shocked by my sudden display of affection. "Sorry… are you not okay with this?" I asked him. "No. It's fine." He said.

Hilbert hugged me back, pulling me closer to him. "Do you want to fight together with me? Perhaps then, I'll figure out a reason to fight." Hilbert asked. "Won't I be a burden to you? I'm weak, after all…" I said. "Hilda, I've never once thought of you as a burden. Please, give yourself more credit." Hilbert said.

Looking back, those were the words that drove me to persevere. To keep fighting for the one person who told me I didn't weigh him down. I felt tears welling up into my eyes, and broke down sobbing into Hilbert's chest. "Hilbert…" I muttered his name out in-between sobs. Hilbert gently stroked my back. "Will you fight with me, Hilda?" He simply asked.

I vigorously nodded. "Of course!" I said. I tilted my head to the side to rest it on his chest, and saw everyone staring at us from inside the Pokémon center. I didn't pay any attention to them, because I had other things on my mind.

I was just too relieved, determined, and scared. Relieved that Hilbert didn't see me as a burden, and told me. Determined to fight to get stronger so I wouldn't be a burden to the others. And scared… I was still scared, but not as much as before.

Because I had someone who believed in me.


	5. Briefly Separated

After what felt like an eternity, Hilda and I entered the Pokémon center, only to be greeted by the stares of our companions inside. " _Those windows are too transparent for their own good._ " I thought. Cheren and Bianca were seated by the counter, with Rayne back behind it, while Claude and Brenda were on the seats by the lounge.

We walked over to the counter and took our seats. Cheren, who was sitting to my right, broke the silence. "So," He said, coughing, "How long has this been going on?" He asked. "How long has what been going on?" Hilda innocently asked. " _Oh Arceus. This better not go the way I think it's going._ " I thought.

Bianca looked over at me and knowingly smiled. I simply turned away. "I'm so happy for you two. Even if it did come out of nowhere…" Bianca said. "What's that supposed to mean?" Hilda huffed. "To constantly getting on each other's nerves to sharing such a tender moment like that in front of all of us… Forgive us for being a little surprised." Cheren said.

"We do not fight all the time!" We said, in unison. Cheren, Bianca and Rayne all shared glances with each other. Cheren let out another deep sigh. "Please don't go all lovey-dovey couple mode on us. For our sakes." He said. "I don't think you need to worry about that, Cheren…" Bianca said, awkwardly laughing.

Hilda looked extremely flustered and angry now. "What the hell do you mean, lovey-dovey couple mode? Where do you get off making fun of people, huh?!" Hilda asked, her fists balled at her sides. "You're all imbeciles." I said, glaring at each and every one of them. "Not dating. Noted." Cheren said, gulping in fear.

"Our nonexistent relationship aside," I said, changing the subject. "Where do you all plan on going from here?" I asked. "I was planning on going alone to Striaton. I want to train on my own terms, then meet up with the rest of you at the city." Cheren said. "Me too! I want to see what we can do, just me and Jolts." Bianca said.

Rayne nodded. "Not a bad choice. Independence is another quality a Pokémon trainer should learn and get used to." He said. "Yes. I was thinking the same thing, actually." I said. "Hilbert! You're leaving me already?" Hilda said, dejected. Cheren gagged.

"Just kidding. Funny, I was thinking the same thing too. If I want to get stronger, then I need to figure out what I'm capable of on my own two feet." Hilda said. "Gee, miss, are you sure you're the same person from last night? It's like night and day!" Rayne said, snickering. Hilda stuck her tongue out at him.

Our Xtransceivers rang at the same time. One by one, we answered the call, and the professor's face appeared on the screen. "Good morning everyone! Are you guys still in Accumula Town?" The professor asked. "Yes! We were just about to leave for Striaton." Bianca replied. "Good, good. When you get to Striaton, I'd like you to meet someone. Her name is Fennel, an old acquaintance of mine." The professor said.

"Fennel? Her name rings familiar." Cheren said. "It would be for you, Cheren. She's rather prolific in the world of academe." The professor said. "Anyway, I've kept you for too long. She has a laboratory over in Striaton City, so make sure to meet up with her. I've already informed her of your visit. Best wishes on your journey!" The professor said, then the call ended.

"Guess it's settled, then." Cheren said. "The four of us will be going our separate ways, then rendezvous at Striaton. We train along the way, then challenge the Striaton Gym." Cheren summarized. "Sounds like a plan. Let's go, everybody!" Hilda said, pumping her first in the air. Rayne crossed his arms and smiled while watching our conversation.

"Is there something amusing?" I asked him. "No, not really. Just warms my heart to see four promising trainers such as yourselves finally begin your adventure." Rayne said, chuckling to himself. "Thanks for all the advice you've given me, mister." Hilda said, politely bowing to him. "Whoa, now! Raise your head, miss. I did what any trainer of my experience ought to." Rayne said, embarrassed.

Cheren slowly rose from his seat. "If it's alright with the rest of you, I'd like to go on ahead. I'd like to get as early a start as possible." He said. "Fine with me. Seeya at Striaton, Cheren. Don't forget about our battle!" Hilda said, holding her fist out to Cheren. Cheren rolled his eyes and bumped his own fist against hers. "I won't. Best of luck to you all." Cheren said as he went back to the room to gather his things.

"How about you two?" Bianca asked. "I still have some business here in Accumula. Are you going on ahead, Hilda?" I asked. "Yep. Smokey here is raring to go." Hilda said, patting at Smokey's Pokéball. "That reminds me, I still have something I need to take care of as well. I guess I'll be staying in Accumula for a little while longer." Bianca said.

"Well, that's that. I'll see you guys at Striation!" Hilda said. She stood up from her seat and went upstairs to the room. Only Bianca and I were left, with Rayne attending to a trainer over by the opposite side of the counter. Bianca turned to look at me. "So, how are you feeling?" Bianca asked. I simply stared straight ahead. "Feeling conflicted?" She asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"A little bit." I said. "...Is it about Hilda?" She asked, concern visible in her expression. "No. It's about N." I admitted. "Hilbert, please. You don't need to worry about a guy you literally just met. For all we know, we might never see him again." Bianca said. "I suppose. But…" I trailed off. " _I'm sure we'll see him again. I don't know why, but I'm absolutely sure."_ I thought.

"But what?" Bianca asked. "It's nothing. You're right. I shouldn't concern myself with someone I only met once. Even if he did leave a strong first impression." I said. "Heehee, I guess he really did. I was terrified, you know. About the stuff he was saying." Bianca said, looking up into the ceiling. "The stuff he was saying?" I asked.

"Yeah. All that stuff about Pokémon liberation, fighting for Pokémon, and changing the world. He said so much stuff that honestly, it still makes my head spin even now." Bianca said, chuckling. "Mm. His ideals were lofty, but he appeared to be serious about them." I said. "That's the scariest part. To think that people like that exist in this world…" Bianca trailed off.

"Incidentally, Bianca," I said. "What are your reasons for going on this adventure? Pokédex aside." I asked. "Hmm… honestly, I don't really know. I was thinking I'd figure it out as I filled out the Pokédex and explored Unova." Bianca said. "So it's possible to have that sort of motivation as well…" I said.

"How about yours, Hilbert? I bet you have a good reason." Bianca said. "I…" I trailed off. "I don't know." I admitted. Bianca looked sad, but patted me on the back.

"Well, if you don't know, just focus on our task at hand. Filling out the Pokédex." Bianca said. "You don't need to figure out every little thing right at this instant, you know. Just take it slow! Enjoy the ride while we're on it." Bianca said, giggling.

"It just makes me uneasy. Going on this adventure with only a singular goal in mind." I said. "Hey, it's much better than going out there without any goal at all. Without this, I doubt I would have even been able to go…" Bianca trailed off, suddenly looking forlorn. "Bianca?" I asked. She suddenly changed expressions to her usual smile. "It's nothing. So, Hilbert, where do you plan on going from here?" Bianca asked.

"I think I'll take your advice. Take one step at a time, and to stop overthinking things…" I said, slightly trailing off. "Mhm! That's good, Hilbert." Bianca said, proudly nodding as if I were her son. "Honestly, it is kind of weird seeing you so dejected like this. Normally you're speaking your mind, you know? Well I guess you still are speaking your mind…" Bianca said. "I can feel emotions too. Processing them is another story." I said.

"Sure, sure. Totally." She said, winking at me. "You're almost as bad as Hilda." I said. Bianca gave me a mischievous smile. "Almost." She said, giggling. I rolled my eyes.

Bianca's Xtransceiver rang. She turned the other way to take the call. I simply twiddled my thumbs, mulling over Bianca's advice. " _Take it slow…"_ I thought. "Sorry, Hilbert, I gotta go. Nice chatting with you!" Bianca said. She rose from her seat and went upstairs. "Just me now, huh…" I muttered to myself.

Rayne sauntered over to me from behind the counter. "What's troubling you, kid?" He asked. "...Just my thoughts." I said. "I overheard your conversation with the blonde girl. Seems like you're having some trouble figuring out a reason to go on this adventure." He said.

"Mm." I muttered. "For what it's worth, I agree with the little miss. You don't gotta decide everything right here right now. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." Rayne said, polishing a glass. "I suppose…" I trailed off.

"My own personal motivations aside, there are more pressing things at hand." I said. "Two Moomoo milk bottles, please." I said. "Coming right up." Rayne said. He passed me two Moomoo milk bottles and I paid for them. "Thanks for the advice. I'll visit every now and then." I said, tipping my cap to the veteran. "Anytime, kid. I'll be here." Rayne said, waving me off.

I took the bottles and politely nodded at him before going on my way. I made my way over to Claude and Brenda, and placed the two bottles of Moomoo milk in front of them. "Well, well. Seems like lover boy here has something to ask us." Brenda said, snickering at me. "You got good taste, kid. What do you wanna talk about?" Claude said, graciously accepting the Moomoo milk. I pulled up a chair and took a seat by their table.

"I'll get straight to the point. Do you think Team Plasma is linked to the unnatural wild Pokémon?" I asked. "Sheesh, you don't pull your punches, kid." Claude said. "I don't. And don't call me kid." I said. "Sorry, just a force of habit." Claude said, laughing.

"Back to your question. We don't have any conclusive proof, but we're guessing that Team Plasma convincing trainers all around to release their Pokémon has something to do with the wild Pokémon from yesterday." Brenda said. "I had a hunch." I said. "Just between you and us, the scolipede, darmanitan and bouffalant all showed signs of being owned by a trainer. The scolipede was just a little bit stronger than your average garden variety scolipede, while the darmanitan and bouffalant both had TM moves." Claude said. " _So that scolipede was stronger than a normal one…"_ I thought.

"We don't have any evidence that it was Team Plasma that led their original trainers to release them, so we're going to do a bit of investigating." Claude said. "Yep. The main branch is deploying us at Icirrus City, where their next rally will be held. If what happened here is anything to go by, then a lot of trainers'll release their Pokémon over there. Claude and I will be on standby in the nearby routes, observing where they're going." Brenda explained. I nodded. "Is it okay for you to tell me all this?" I asked. "Hey, you helped us out. We're just returning the favor." Brenda said, smiling. "I see. Thank you." I said.

"You off to Striaton, kid? There's a Gym there, you know. Maybe you ought to take the Gym challenge." Claude said. "I might as well. I'm traveling all across Unova to fill out the Pokédex, so I'll take the Gym challenge along the way. Then maybe…" I trailed off. "Then maybe what?" Claude asked. "Nothing. Are you two leaving?" I asked. "Yep, we were just about to. Luckily, we've got our flying Pokémon, so we can head to Icirrus in no time." Claude said. "I'll see you off, then." I said, nodding.

The three of us made our way outside, where Claude and Brenda sent out their flying Pokémon, an unfezant and a mandibuzz respectively. They boarded their Pokémon and prepared to take off. "We'll see you around, Hilbert. Call me on the Xtransceiver if you see anything!" Claude said. "Best wishes." I said, waving at them. Their Pokémon took off, flying into the horizon.

I watched the Pokémon rangers slowly disappear into the sky. I placed my hands into my pockets and felt a chill. " _Autumn's coming early."_ I thought.

* * *

After saying goodbye to Hilbert and Bianca, I went up to our room to collect my things. Cheren was already there, preparing to take off. "You're still here, Cheren?" I asked. "I'm just about to leave. You?" He asked, tying his shoes. "Same. I'm just gonna gather my stuff and hit the road." I said.

"Good, good. The path to getting stronger waits for no one, after all." Cheren said. "Yeah. I need to train hard if I want to get stronger. Smokey and I are gonna have our work cut out for us!" I replied. "You should catch more Pokémon in addition to Smokey. You'll get a lot stronger that way." Cheren said. "I know that! Jeez." I complained.

"I'm just saying. There's strength in numbers, after all." Cheren said. "Well, how many Pokémon do you have?" I asked. "For your information, two. I caught a purrloin on Route 1." He curtly replied. "Grr…" I growled. " _Wait, you can find purrloin there? Huh._ " I thought.

"I should be on my way. I'll be seeing you at Striaton." Cheren said. He stood up and left the room. "Condescending jerk…" I complained to no one in particular.

" _Alright. It's time for my adventure to actually start. Time to take on Route 2!"_ I cheered internally. I gathered my things and left the Pokémon center. I passed by Rayne on the way, who slipped me a bottle of Moomoo milk. "For the road, miss. Best wishes on your travels." He said, giving me a mock salute. I saluted back. "Thanks for all the help!" I said. "Get outta here!" He said, laughing. I laughed back and ran outside.

I saw Hilbert standing there, his arms crossed and back turned. "Hilbert? Are you leaving?" I asked, trying to get his attention. He didn't seem to notice me. "Hilbert?" I asked again, tapping him on the shoulder. "Hm? Oh." Hilbert said, finally turning to look at me. He seemed lost in thought.

"Are you okay?" I asked. Hilbert looked straight ahead again, ignoring my question. "Hey, answer someone when they're asking a question!" I said. "Sorry. I'm fine." Hilbert said. I pouted. "You don't look fine, but I guess you never do. I'll see you at Striaton, okay?" I said. "See you." Hilbert replied.

I turned back to look at him as I walked away, but he seemed distracted by something else. " _Hilbert…?"_ I thought. " _No, it's Hilbert we're talking about. He'll be fine."_ I reassured myself. I continued on to the edge of town, stealing glances at Hilbert every now and then. Not once did he move from his spot, or redirect his gaze.

I entered the gate that led to Route 2. The attendant behind the counter nodded politely at me, to which I nodded back to her. I glanced up at what appeared to be an electronic bulletin board placed on the wall, beside the attendant. " _September 19th, 20XX. Weather is clear around the Route 2 area. This gate connects Accumula Town to Route 2."_ I thought, reading the words flashing by on the bulletin board.

I took my gaze off the bulletin board and entered Route 2. " _This is going to be great!"_ ...Or so I thought.

The effects of the fight between the bouffalant and the darmanitan yesterday were all too apparent in the route. Trees were knocked over. Grass patches were reduced to ashes. Part of the mountain to the south had collapsed. "This is terrible…" I muttered.

I took out Smokey's Pokéball and sent her out. "Tepig!" Smokey squealed. I crouched down and gave her an affectionate pat on the head. "We're gonna be traveling alone for a while, Smokey. I was thinking I could take you out to see the world. You were held in captivity, right?" I asked. "Tep." Smokey nodded. "Well, let's travel the region together, Smokey! Though admittedly, this isn't a very good start to that journey." I said, grimacing. Smokey looked at the destruction and whimpered.

" _The more things change, the more things stay the same, I guess. Traveling again…_ " I mused. " _Okay, Hilda. Let's focus on getting stronger._ "

Smokey and I approached a patch of tall grass. " _Wild Pokémon frequently appear in grass fields like this. Which means…"_ My thoughts were cut off by a purrloin popping out of the grass. " _Yep. Wild Pokémon_." I thought.

My hand suddenly trembled as I tried to command Smokey. " _No. Snap out of it, Hilda. You'll be fine. Just believe in Smokey._ " I thought to myself. I clapped my cheeks with my hands and assumed a fighting stance. Smokey reared her head, awaiting orders.

"Smokey! Barrage it with an ember attack!" I commanded, pointing at the purrloin. Smokey obliged, searing the purrloin with a torrent of small flames. The purrloin hissed in surprise, backing off into the grass. "Where did it go?" I wondered.

The purrloin suddenly leaped out and scratched at Smokey's torso, causing her to squeal. "Smokey!" I cried. "Tepig!" Smokey replied, probably signaling that she was still okay. "Alright! Don't take it lying down, Smokey! Ram into it with a tackle!" I said. Smokey reared her head and rammed into the purrloin full force, knocking it flat on its back. The purrloin didn't get up. "We did it! You're pretty strong, Smokey." I said. "Tepig!" Smokey said, affectionately rubbing her snout against my leg.

All of a sudden, two more purrloin popped out of the grass. " _Was this their territory? I'm in real trouble now…"_ I thought. I couldn't stop my hands from trembling.

The purrloin swiped at Smokey, staggering her backwards. "You doing okay?" I asked. Smokey nodded, albeit weakly. "Same thing with the scolipede, Smokey. Get some distance and keep using ember!" I said, pointing at the purrloin with a shaky hand. Smokey ran back to get some distance and spewed out more flames, scorching the purrloin. The purrloin tried to close the distance, but Smokey's embers burned them more before they could get close. "That's it! Finish them off with a tackle!" I said. Smokey reared her head and slammed into the two purrloin, knocking them into each other.

I breathed a sigh of relief and grasped one hand with the other, trying to stop them from trembling. " _Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in…"_ I repeated in my thoughts, trying to breathe.

The grass rustled once more, revealing three more purrloin. "Tep?" Smokey squealed, looking at me concernedly. "I-It's okay, we can take them…" I said, until another Pokémon came out of the buses.

A large, purple cat Pokémon much bigger than the purrloins came out of the grass. Its belly was yellow, and it bore a vengeful expression. " _A liepard…"_ I thought. My entire body started to tremble. "Smokey, we need to get out of here. We can't handle them!" I said. Smokey quickly picked up on my agitation and prepared to run.

"Pup!" I heard from behind me. Still trembling, I turned around to see what made the sound.

Three lillipup were standing there, looking ready to fight. Behind them was a larger, bushier Pokémon that I recognized as a herdier. " _A herdier too?!"_ I thought.

I hugged my arms closer to my body and nearly buckled my knees. " _Is this how it ends? So early?_ " I thought to myself. I glanced at Smokey, and she looked absolutely terrified. " _I never should have gone alone… I really am usel-"_

"Herd!" The herdier cried. Before I even knew what was happening, the lillipup and herdier ran past me and attacked the purrloin and liepard. I watched the chaos ensure, both sides fighting their hardest. I slowly stood back up and continued watching the scene unfold. " _This must have been the lillipup's territory originally, but they were displaced by yesterday's events. Now they're fighting to take it back_ …" I thought.

The herdier looked at me from its fight with the liepard and shot me an approving nod. "Herd!" It cried, pointing forwards. It seemed like it was gesturing at me to escape. I nodded back at the herdier and picked up Smokey, then I made a mad dash to escape the carnage. " _Wait, that one lillipup looks kind of familiar. Hmm…"_ I thought as I ran off.

I caught my breath by a tree at the end of the grass. I gently set Smokey down on the ground, where she started to pant. "Wait, I think I still have some…" I said as I reached into my bag and pulled out a handful of Oran berries. "Here. You must be tired after that battle. I know I am…" I said, extending my palm to Smokey. Smokey happily munched on the Oran berries, squealing in joy. I stroked her on the head. "Ehehe…" I laughed.

I continued on the road to Striaton City, battling off wild Pokémon that strayed too far from their territory. Smokey struggled at first, but eventually became able to dispatch them with ease and send them running. "Those embers of yours are getting real bright, Smokey." I said, complimenting her "Tepig!" She squealed, raising her snout high. I giggled and stroked her on the head.

I took the town map out of my bag and unrolled it, getting a good view of the region. Fortunately, the town map also came with pamphlets that contained detailed overhead views of all the main routes, so I was able to get my bearings. " _So this is what Route 2 looked like before the destruction yesterday…_ " I thought.

" _Oh, I'm almost halfway there. Looks like there's two lefts up ahead, but the first left is blocked by some high ledges…"_ I thought, looking through the map. " _Okay, so I need to take the second left, which is through another patch of tall grass."_ I thought. My hand started to tremble again. Shaking my head, I stuffed the pamphlet and the town map back into my bag. " _No, Hilda. Now's not the time to get nervous. You're almost at Striaton._ " I thought, calming myself down.

"Hey, you!" I heard a voice call out to me. I shook myself out of my daze. "Who's there?" I shouted back. A young boy wearing an orange baseball cap came running out from deeper in the route, Pokéball in hand. "Our eyes met! I challenge you to a battle!" He said, poised to throw his Pokéball. " _Is that how it works?"_ I thought. Smokey was right by my feet, looking raring to go. "Tepig!" She squealed.

The boy threw his Pokéball onto the ground, and out came a patrat. "Pat!" Patrat cried, raising its claws. " _My first real trainer battle… let's go!"_ I thought, staying my hand from trembling.

"Go, Patrat! Use your leer!" The boy shouted, pointing at Smokey. Patrat narrowed its eyes and glared intensely at Smokey, causing her to shiver. "It's alright, Smokey! Ram into it, head first!" I commanded. Smokey shook it off and glared back at Patrat. She took off like a cannonball, ramming into the patrat with all her might. "No! Patrat!" The boy cried out.

"Grr… you'll pay for that! Bite it!" The boy said. Patrat regained its footing and lunged towards Smokey, latching onto her torso with its teeth. Smokey cried out in pain and shook violently from side to side, attempting to get it off. "Smokey! Blast it with a point blank ember!" I said. Smokey steadied herself and looked down at Patrat and opened her mouth, searing it with her flames. Patrat detached itself from Smokey's torso, looking heavily injured.

"Patrat! Scratch it!" The boy shouted. Patrat took a step back and raised its claw, then lunged again and brought it down on Smokey's head. Smokey took the attack head on, causing her to cry out in pain again. "Just like before, Smokey! Use your ember attack!" I said. Smokey, having a perfect view of Patrat's body, breathed in and barraged it with the embers. Patrat fell to the ground, defeated.

"Wow! You're really strong, miss!" The boy said, recalling Patrat to its Pokéball. "Ehehe, thanks. You're not too bad yourself." I sheepishly said. The boy handed me some loose change, which I presumed to be reward money. " _Reward money… the culture of Pokémon trainers to pay the winner a sum of Pokédollars._ " I thought, graciously accepting the money.

The boy waved at me and walked towards Accumula Town, leaving Smokey and I in the middle of the route. I kneeled down to Smokey's height and started patching up her wounds. "Here, Smokey, have a snack." I said as I pulled out more Oran berries from my bag. " _I'm starting to feel a little like Hilbert now…"_ I mused. " _I knew it was a good idea to buy some Oran berries at the Pokémon center, but I'm starting to run a bit low. Maybe it's time I picked up the pace."_

"Sorry, Smokey, but this is gonna hurt a bit. Afterwards, you'll feel all better." I said, taking a potion out of my bag. Smokey looked suspicious, but her look of suspicion turned to one of surprise as I sprayed her bruises and wounds with the potion. "Tepig!" She audibly complained. "Tepig?" She squealed again, this time slightly confused. "See? The pain's all gone now, and you should feel much better." I said, smiling.

Smokey and I continued on to the end of the path, eventually reaching the first fork in the road. I looked to the left and saw that the path was sharply elevated, ledges lined along it. " _This looks like trouble to scale up. One misstep and I could fall back onto the ground. Better find another path…_ " I thought.

"Tep?" Smokey squealed. "Huh? What's wrong, Smokey?" I asked. Smokey walked over to the ledge and rubbed her snout across the ground. "Is there something there?" I asked. Smokey vigorously nodded and started digging into the ground. " _She looks excited._ " I thought.

Smokey eventually stopped digging and lowered her head into the pit. After a couple of seconds, Smokey raised her head out of the pit, a big mushroom in her mouth. She proudly walked over to me and placed the big mushroom in my hands. "Wow, this looks like it could sell for a lot! Thank you, Smokey!" I cheered, rubbing her affectionately on the head. "Tepig!" Smokey squealed in joy.

" _So Smokey can dig into the ground and find mushrooms for me to sell? That's really useful!_ " I thought, smiling to myself. Smokey looked proud. "Alright, let's head on forwards." I said. Smokey and I walked forwards a little bit more until we reached the second left turn.

" _More tall grass… I hope we don't run into another territory._ " I thought. Smokey and I gingerly walked through the tall grass, battling off any wild Pokémon that came across us. I had Smokey only use her physical attacks, because using fire type moves while we were traveling through tall grass didn't seem particularly good for our health.

Eventually, we made it all the way past the tall grass. I glanced down at my left hand, which was still slightly trembling. " _Nngrh…_ " I internally complained. Smokey looked up at me concernedly, but I just waved her off.

" _Oh, that's the gate up ahead. According to the town map, it must connect to Striaton City._ " I thought, looking at the pamphlet for Route 2. " _Huh?_ " I stepped forward a little bit, and noticed an easy-to-miss fork in the road to the right. " _This isn't on the town map…_ " I thought.

"You wanna check it out, Smokey?" I asked. Smokey vigorously nodded her head. "Alright, let's go." I said, marching off to the right. " _There isn't much of a trail here. That must mean people rarely come here…_ " I thought. Moving past the trees, I noticed something at the end of the path. "Oh, a hill. With… stairs?" I wondered aloud. There was a hill at the end of the path, with stairs leading up to the top of the hill. " _Why are there stairs here?_ " I wondered.

Gingerly, Smokey and I made our way up the stairs, one step at a time. We made our way up the top of the hill. " _Hmm, there doesn't seem to be anything here… but I'll check, just in case._ " I thought. I took a few steps forward and saw something peeking out past the hill.

"Whoa, is that…" I muttered aloud. I walked over to the edge of the hill and was greeted by an overhead view of Accumula Town. "Wow… it's so beautiful…" I mumbled, in awe at the sight. The sun was overhead, blanketing the town in its rays. " _I can practically see everything from here. I can even kind of see Route 1…_ " I thought, squinting.

" _Darn, I can't see what's in front of the Pokémon center. Kind of wanted to see if Hilbert finally left…_ " I thought, complaining to myself. " _Well, whatever. It's time to get a move on._ " I thought, turning around to leave.

"Oh?" I gasped. I saw something by the roots of a nearby tree as I turned around to leave. I walked over and picked it up. "A Pokéball? Here?" I muttered aloud. I clicked the button in the center, and it opened right away. " _Doesn't seem like there's a Pokémon inside. Oh well. Free Pokéball!"_ I thought, rejoicing at my find.

Smokey and I went back down the hill and walked into the gate leading to Striaton City. I stopped to look at the bulletin board. " _September 19th, 20XX. Weather is clear around the Route 2 area. This gate connects Striaton City to Route 2. Pretty much the same thing as the other bulletin board._ " I internally remarked. The gate attendant politely bowed at me as I passed by, where I nodded politely in response.

" _Alright! Time to see what Striaton City is like!_ "

* * *

The moment I stepped into Route 2, I immediately bore witness to abject chaos. Not only were some trees knocked down, some grass charred to cinders, and even the cliffside caved in, the beaten bodies of several lillipup and purrloin littered the path ahead of me.

Blade was outside his Pokéball, and he looked very confused at what he saw. "Blade, do you know what's going on?" I asked. He shook his head and gently pushed the back of my leg, urging me to see what's happening. I took the hint and walked forwards.

The further I went, the denser the amount of bodies of the lillipup and purrloin became. I checked for signs of life of some of them, and fortunately they all returned positive. " _I don't need to worry about any of these Pokémon dying on me. What I do need to worry about is what caused all of this._ " I thought, furrowing my brow.

I checked my Xtransceiver for the time. " _11:30 AM. What could have possibly caused a ruckus so early in the day?_ " I thought. My question would be answered as I turned the corner.

A herdier and liepard were squaring off, staring at each other. Both were badly beaten, but still standing on their legs. They were both breathing heavily, waiting for the other to make its move. Blade and I quickly backed away and hid behind a tree around the corner from the herdier, both of them not having noticed us yet.

"Blade. What do you think is going on?" I asked. Blade looked straight ahead, observing the situation. I followed his lead and started to observe the two.

The liepard lunged towards the herdier, its claws raised high up in the air . The herdier braced itself and took the hit on its back, causing it to grunt in pain. The herdier retaliated by viciously slamming its head into its opponent, causing it to fly a few meters back. The liepard landed on its feet and lunged again, this time preparing to bite.

" _This looks like a territorial dispute. I'm guessing that either the lillipup or the purrloin are trying to take control of this area. Should I help either side out…?_ " I thought. Blade walked behind me and pushed on my leg, perhaps urging me to make my presence known. "Did you think of something?" I asked, looking back at Blade. He nodded, still pushing my leg.

I cleared my throat and came out from behind the corner. The liepard stopped itself in its tracks, landing a few meters away from the herdier. The herdier apprehensively looked back at me, perhaps not wanting to take its eyes off the liepard.

The liepard looked straight into my eyes, showing me an expression that could only mean " _Please… help me_ ". Admittedly, it did look almost pitiable, the wounds visible all over its body exacerbating its cry for help. Blade didn't look convinced, though, as he was scowling and his arms were crossed around his chest.

The herdier closed its one eye at me, perhaps telling me not to interfere. Or was it telling me to get away while I still could? " _Which one do I believe?_ " I wondered. Blade looked up at me and pointed to the liepard. I closed my eyes and nodded. "I trust you, Blade. Do all you can to help the herdier." I said, directing my gaze to the liepard.

Blade dashed forward and took a fighting stance beside the herdier. The herdier appeared to breathe a sigh of relief, and turn its gaze back to the liepard. Both Blade and the herdier were poised to fight, Blade gripping his scalchop and the herdier rearing its head.

The liepard's pitiable expression quickly changed into one of fury, glaring at me with all the anger a liepard could have. " _Seems Blade made the right call._ " I thought. The liepard swiped a claw in the air, its tail bristling. It was now or never.

"Blade! Slam it with a water gun!" I commanded. Blade obliged, breathing in and exhaling a stream of water onto the liepard. The liepard took it head on, its fur now shining in the noontime sunlight. The herdier quickly followed up by ramming into it, causing them both to fall over. The herdier landed on its feet, while the liepard took a heavy blow on both sides of its torso.

"Blade, provide cover fire! Keep making openings for the herdier to attack!" I shouted. Blade nodded and fired stream after stream of water guns towards the herdier, occasionally missing but always eventually finding its mark. The liepard yowled in pain every time the water guns connected, allowing the herdier to take advantage of the openings by slamming its body into the liepard.

The liepard eventually fell from Blade's and the herdier's attacks, falling listlessly to the ground. After a few seconds, it slowly got up and noticed Blade's cold stare and the herdier's fiery gaze. The liepard tried to put up a front, but quickly retreated and escaped deeper into the forest, yowling the entire way. It seems that the liepard's cries had a rousing effect on all the nearby purrloin, as they all rose from their slumber and followed the liepard into the forest.

All that was left was the herdier, Blade, myself, and all the exhausted lillipups from earlier in the route. I approached Blade and the herdier and crouched down to their level. I reached into my bag and pulled out two handfuls of Oran berries, then extended my palms to Blade and the herdier. "Eat up, you two. I bet you're exhausted." I said.

Blade quickly went up to my hand and eagerly ate the Oran berries, while the herdier stared at me confusedly. "Are you not going to eat? It's good for you." I said. The herdier apprehensively walked up to my other palm and ate the Oran berries, its eyes closed.

I waited for them to finish eating up. The herdier finished first; perhaps a testament to how exhausted it was. Blade finished a couple of seconds after the herdier did, patting his belly afterwards. The herdier licked my palm, as if to thank me, then ran over to the fallen lillipup to check on them.

I called Claude on the Xtransciever. " _Missed calls?_ " I wondered, but those weren't important right now. After a few rings, his face appeared on the screen. "Hilbert? What's up?" He asked. "Are you free right now? I ran into a bit of an issue here at Route 2." I said. "Huh? Was there another freakishly strong wild Pokémon?" Claude asked. "No, just something I think the Pokémon rangers could help with. There was a territorial dispute over here." I said.

"Oh, was it between the lillipup and purrloin? Okay, I'll be right over. I'm on break, anyway." Claude said. "I appreciate it." I replied. Claude nodded to me then hung up. Soon after, an unfezant descended in front of me, Claude on its back. Claude patted his unfezant on the head and recalled it into its Pokéball.

"Whoa, what a mess." He said, surveying the scene. "I've heard that the territorial issues between the lillipup and purrloin here ran wild, but this is the first time I've seen it get this bad. I'm guessing there were just as many purrloin here as there were lillipup?" He asked, gaze fixed on the exhausted lillipup scattered around the corner.

I nodded. "Yes. We had to fend off what I think was their leader. A liepard." I said. "I assume that the lillipup leader helped you out? Guessing it's that herdier over there." Claude said, pointing to the herdier. The herdier was licking the wounds of the lillipup, attempting to revitalize them. I nodded in reply.

"How did you know which side to fight for?" Claude asked. "...Blade helped. I trusted his judgment." I said. I told Claude about how the liepard and herdier looked at us prior to the battle.

"It's a good thing you didn't fall for the liepard's tricks. Those Pokémon are real masters of manipulation." Claude said. "I would have. The liepard was almost begging for me to help it, while the herdier practically told me to get away. If it weren't for Blade, I might have helped the liepard instead." I said.

Claude closed his eyes and nodded. "Good call, leaving it to your Pokémon. They would know the best thing to do in this situation, after all." He said. "Blade made the right call, too. This area is originally the lillipups' domain. They must have been displaced from the fight yesterday." Claude followed up.

"I'm glad we were right. It would have been unfortunate if we were wrong." I said. "Unfortunate is putting it likely. It would have displaced this entire pack." He said. "That's a scary thought." I replied. "It is, but that's just the way life goes. I'm guessing the lillipup would have retaliated later out of vengeance, but you just saved them the trouble." He said.

"Really, I didn't do much. I just helped where I could." I said, awkwardly lowering my cap. "Sure, kid. I'll take it from here. I need to get the lillipup settled back into their habitat." Claude said. He sent out a bipedal Pokémon which I recognized as an audino. "Audino over here will fix their wounds right up." He said. Audino saluted Claude.

"Heh…" I laughed. "Something funny, kid?" Claude asked. "Nothing." I said, still internally snickering at Audino's salute. "Hey, look over there. The herdier's coming this way." Claude said.

He pointed behind me, causing me to turn around. The herdier was slowly walking towards us, a lillipup trailing behind him. " _Hold on. I've seen that lillipup before._ " I thought.

I thought back to yesterday, where Hilda was being assaulted by the lillipup. "There's no way." I said aloud. "Huh?" Claude said. "That lillipup… I've met it before. Just yesterday, actually." I said. "No kidding? Where?" Claude asked. "Back at Nuvema Town. It attacked Hilda yesterday morning." I replied. "No way, Hilda was attacked by something as cute as a lillipup? That's hilarious!" Claude said, laughing. "By the time I got there, she was on the ground." I recalled.

Claude snickered. "Oh, man. I've heard stories of people getting attacked by lillipup, but it's usually because they want to play around. From what you're saying, that lillipup's a rowdy one." Claude said.

The herdier barked to interrupt our conversation. I crouched down to its level. "Yes?" I asked. The herdier slightly backed away and looked at the lillipup, prompting it to approach me. Blade looked at the lillipup suspiciously. The lillipup still had that sharp gaze from when it attacked Hilda yesterday.

"Blade?" I asked. "Osha." Blade said to the lillipup. "Pup." The lillipup replied. They had a full conversation with gestures and body language that I could just barely make out. "Claude, do you understand what they're talking about?" I asked. "...A little bit. This lillipup's not like the others." Claude said, cupping his chin.

Blade turned to me, pointed to the lillipup and nodded his head. The lillipup looked at me, gaze still sharp but looking expectant. " _Wait…_ " I thought. "Lillipup, do you want to join me?" I asked. The lillipup slowly nodded its head in affirmation.

"Seems like it's grateful to you and wants to tag along. You going to take it?" Claude asked. I slowly approached the lillipup and gently scratched its chin. "Pup!" It barked at me, but eventually it closed its eyes and let itself be scratched.

Lillipup rolled over onto its back and glared at me. I sighed and rubbed my hand over its belly, where it closed its eyes again. The herdier kept its eyes on me, while Blade stared at Lillipup in awe.

"Yes. It seems a little prickly, but I won't say no if it wants to come along." I said. I took a Pokéball from my bag and placed it in front of Lillipup. Lillipup simply glared at me. Sighing, I pressed the Pokéball's button against Lillipup's forehead, causing it to dematerialize into a bright red light. I set the Pokéball on the ground where it shook for a while, and eventually stopped.

I took Lillipup's Pokéball from the ground and pressed the button again, sending it out. Lillipup glared at me as it was sent out, but rubbed its face against my shoe. "I think I'll name you Ace." I said. Ace didn't seem to pay heed to its new name, but didn't complain about it either, still rubbing its face against my shoe.

I took out my Pokédex and checked out Ace's details. " _Ace, a lillipup. Male. Ability is Vital Spirit, he's the adamant type and is strong willed._ " I thought, reading through his details.

Claude smiled. "Always nice to see a trainer catch a Pokémon, especially when the Pokémon itself wants to be caught like that. I'll take it from here, kid. Head on over to Striaton." Claude said. "What about your patrol around Icirrus City?" I asked. "Eh, as far as a Pokémon ranger's concerned, priority is given to where there's an actual incident. Brenda's there, anyway, and some of my colleagues." Claude said. "If you say so." I replied.

I looked down at Blade and Ace. Blade looked determined, ready to go at any time. Ace was still glaring at me, but seemed to want to get a move on as well. " _Adorable, these two._ " I thought. I looked over at the herdier and gave it a respectful nod. The herdier closed its eyes and wagged its tail in response. "Heh, seems like you've got the respect of this pack's leader. Good on you, kid." Claude said.

"We should get going. I'll leave it to you, Claude. Thank you." I said. Claude simply waved his hands in front of his face. "You got it. This is what a Pokémon ranger's for, after all. Phew, am I relieved I gave you my contact details." He said, laughing. I laughed along with him.

I left Claude to tend to the lillipup pack, while me and my partners continued along the route to Striaton City.

Strangely, there weren't any more wild Pokémon along the route. " _Perhaps they were all scared off by the fight earlier._ " I thought. I looked at Ace, who seemed to have read my thoughts and nodded. "It looks like this'll be more peaceful than I initially thought. I was hoping I could see you in battle, Ace, but it looks like that will have to w-"

"Heeeeeey! Hilbert!" I heard a voice call out. By then, I had just come out of the patch of tall grass facing the gate to Striaton City. A figure emerged from the gate, revealing itself to be Bianca.

"Bianca? What are you doing here?" I asked, startled at her sudden appearance. "Cheren, Hilda and I made it to Striaton ages ago. We got worried, and you weren't picking up your Xtransceiver." Bianca said. I noticed Jolts floating around by her feet.

I remembered seeing a few missed calls on my Xtransceiver earlier when I called Claude over. "Oh, that was you. Sorry, I was caught up in something." I said. "Tell us about it later, we need to get to the city." Bianca said "What happened to you? You look like a mess!" She continued, then something - or someone - caught her eye.

"Ooh, is that a lillipup? So cute!" Bianca cooed. Ace glared at her, which almost called her to stumble back in surprise. "Ack! He's a scary one…" Bianca said. "Believe it or not, this is the same lillipup that assaulted Hilda yesterday. I'll tell you the details in the city." I said.

"Well, while we're here…" Bianca said, locking eyes with me. "It's customary for any trainers that lock eyes to have a battle. Wanna have a go, Hilbert?" Bianca said, smiling deviously. I sighed and crossed my arms. "Fine, you're on." I replied, returning her gaze with a glare of my own.

"Just so you know, I have two Pokémon too. Let's fight with everything we've got!" Bianca said. "Ready when you are. Blade, let's have Ace show us what he's got." I said. Blade nodded and retreated to behind my legs.

"Go! Coco!" Bianca shouted, throwing a Pokéball onto the ground. A lillipup emerged from it, poised and ready to fight. " _Its glare isn't nearly as intense as Ace's. Is Ace just weird?_ " I wondered.

"Ace, you're up." I said. "Pup!" Ace barked at me, and growled at Coco. "I'm making the first move! Coco, use your adorable baby-doll eyes!" Bianca said. Coco looked down and jerked her head back up, staring at Ace with an absolutely adorable expression. " _Baby-doll eyes. A favorite of lillipup everywhere, and also the favorite of a certain trainer…_ " I thought, thinking back to Hilda's adorable lillipup eyes. I shook my head. " _Why am I the one getting distracted?_ " I thought.

"Ace! Counter it with your leer!" I said. Ace looked distracted from Coco's cuteness, but he snapped out of it from my command. He glared at Coco with all her might with his powerful leer. The two had a staring contest between cuteness and intimidation, but Coco was the first one to break the gaze. She buckled under the intense pressure of Ace's leer.

"Ace, there's your opening! Ram into her with a tackle!" I commanded. Ace growled and lunged at Coco, slamming into her. Both lillipup were sent flying; Coco landed painfully on her side, while Ace managed to land on his feet. "Coco!" Bianca cried out. Coco got to her feet and dropped the baby-doll eyes, replacing it with a leer of her own.

"Come on, Coco! Show it what you've got with a tackle of your own!" Bianca said. Coco lowered her head and rammed into the stunned Ace, sending them both flying through the air again. This time, it was Ace who landed on his side, while Coco landed on her feet.

"Alright, Ace. Use your teeth! Bite her!" I said. Ace took off like a bullet and latched onto Coco, chomping onto her upper body. Coco yelped in pain. "Shake him off, Coco! Tackle him off!" Bianca said, but Coco was too dazed to acknowledge her command. "She must be flinching. She can't do anything until it wears off! Ace, use this opportunity to tackle her!" I said. Ace bucked up and slammed into Coco's side, knocking her far away. Coco tried to get up, but fell on her belly.

"Coco!" Bianca cried. She sighed, knowing Coco was in no condition to fight anymore, and recalled her to her Pokéball. "You did great. Now, it's time to show you how much Jolts has grown!" Bianca said.

Jolts came out from behind Bianca's legs and looked ready to fight. "Ty!" She squeaked. Ace glared at her, which caused Jolts to quiver a little. "Leer at her, Ace. Show her you mean business!" I commanded. Ace intensified his glare, causing Jolts to visibly quiver and shake. "It's okay, Jolts! You can beat him! Ram into him with your spark attack!" Bianca said.

Electricity began to gather around Jolts, then he zoomed through the air and slammed into Ace. Ace yelped in surprise, feeling the sting of an electrically charged tackle. "Two can play at that game, Ace. Use your size advantage and tackle her back!" I said. Ace, still recoiling from the pain, shook his head and rammed his head into Jolts. Jolts was knocked back, but still looked ready to go.

"That did a lot of damage, Jolts! Do it again!" Bianca said. Electricity gathered around Jolts again and she tackled Ace, causing electricity to course all around his fur. Ace fell to the ground on his belly, all the fur on his body standing on end. "Ace!" I cried. "Good job, Ace. Let's leave this to Blade, now." I said as I recalled Ace into his Pokéball.

Blade came out from behind my legs and glared at Jolts. Jolts quivered, but not as hard as when Ace leered at her. "Electric versus water. This isn't a matchup in my favor." I muttered. Bianca must have heard me, because she pointed at Blade and quickly replied. "But it is in mine! Jolts, keep using spark!" Bianca said.

"Tch… Blade, intercept it with your water gun!" I shouted. Blade unleashed a powerful stream of water on Jolts, which seemed to react with the electricity gathered around it. The electricity coursed through the water, causing it to violently shock both Blade and Jolts. "Blade!" "Jolts!" Bianca and I cried out.

Jolts looked hurt, but still seemed good to go. Blade did not like the feeling of being electrocuted at all, and it showed on his expression. "Fine, then. Tackle it head on, Blade!" I said. Blade took a running start and rammed into Jolts, sending the tynamo flying.

"Jolts! Paralyze him with a thunder wave!" Bianca said. Jolts sent a weak jolt of electricity towards Blade, who tried to evade. The jolt managed to course into Blade's body, leaving him paralyzed. "Blade!" I cried out.

"Jolts may be almost at her limit… but Blade's going to hit his first! Now, use your spark attack again!" Bianca commanded, pointing at the now paralyzed Blade. Jolts crashed into the helpless Blade, leaving him severely wounded. "Damn… is this the end?" I mumbled.

Blade's expression changed to one of anger, his glare now easily matching Ace's. His body started to glow a bright blue, resonating with the residual electricity from his paralysis. I quickly checked my Pokédex. "Torrent… an ability that powers up his water type moves at low health. That's perfect." I muttered.

"Blade, try to shake off the paralysis! Finish Jolts off with your water gun!" I commanded. Blade attempted to shake free of the paralysis and managed to move his limbs. "Oh no you don't! Jolts, finish Blade off with spark!" Bianca said.

The attacks occurred at almost the same time, with resoundingly obvious effects. The torrent-boosted water gun slammed into Jolts, whose field of electricity flowed into the water. Jolts was knocked flat onto the ground, while Blade felt the shock from practically eating electricity twice in a row.

Jolts could no longer get up, but Blade was just barely on one leg, still paralyzed. I breathed a sigh of relief. "It looks like we win, Bianca." I calmly said. Bianca looked ecstatic. "That was so cool! Our Pokémon are so strong!" Bianca cheered. "You did super well, Jolts! I'm so proud of you!" Bianca said as she recalled Jolts into her Pokéball. "You as well, Blade. You performed incredibly admirably." I said, recalling Blade into his Pokéball as well.

Bianca wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Phew! That was a workout." She said. "But our Pokémon did all the work." I pointed out. "Telling them what to do is hard work, too! It's all a part of being a trainer." Bianca shot back. I shrugged.

"Anyway, let's meet up with Hilda and Cheren. I bet you miss Hilda." Bianca said, giving me a bright, yet somehow devious smile. "Maybe, maybe not." I said. "Just teasing. Come on, let's go." Bianca said.

We walked into the gate and entered Striaton City.


	6. Exploring the City

"Where the heck could Bianca be?" I complained loudly to Cheren. "You know Bianca. Always running off." He said. Cheren and I were sitting across each other at a café, waiting for Hilbert to arrive. Hilbert was taking a while, so Bianca went out to Route 2 to check on him.

I checked my Xtransceiver. " _12 o'clock noon._ " I thought as I looked out the window. Sure enough, the sun was shining directly above the city. I sighed and took a sip from my hot chocolate. "Worried?" Cheren asked. "No! Just enjoying the view." I huffed.

"If you say so. Once the Gym opens up, I'm going to challenge it right away." Cheren said. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We'll have our battle after we both finish it." I said, still looking out the window. "It's supposed to open at around 2:30 PM. The Striaton Gym is supposed to be in that restaurant over there, and it seems like they're dealing with the lunch rush." Cheren said, pointing to a restaurant in the distance.

"Uh huh." I muttered out in response. "Hilda, please. Worry is written all over your face." Cheren said, sighing deeply. "So what if it is?!" I said, slamming my fists on the table. A waiter glared at me, making me shrink back into my seat.

"You'd think Hilbert would have gotten here before I did! Or, hell, before Bianca did! What's taking him so long?!" I complained. "Maybe he ran into unexpected trouble. He did leave a bit later than us, after all." Cheren said. "He could have, but this is Hilbert we're talking about, right? He can handle it!" I said. "You may be singing his praises a little too loudly there, Hilda." Cheren said, sighing.

"I'm singing his praises with just the right amount of volume." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. "Seriously, do you like him or hate him? Just the other day, you two got into a massive argument as to whether a gigalith or an excadrill would win in a fight. My ears are still ringing from that one." Cheren said.

"Grr… a gigalith would win, any day! Do you see those massive crystals all over its body? They could tear any dumb excadrill apart!" I loudly complained, causing the waiter to glare at me again. "I'm not about to open this can of wurmple, especially without Bianca around." Cheren said.

"And as to whether I like him or hate him, don't you think hate is kind of a strong word? We've never gotten physical, haven't we?" I smugly said. "Yes. You have. All the time when we were younger. Just the other week, too." Cheren deadpanned. "So what if I split his lip open? That's what he gets for kneeing me in the gut!" I said. "I don't think either of you should have gotten physical, but that's just my opinion." Cheren said, sighing.

"F-Fine, whatever. I'll apologize to him when he gets here, okay? Someone has to be the bigger person, after all." I said, smirking with my chest puffed up. "You're impossible." Cheren complained.

The door to the café opened, revealing two distinctly familiar figures. Hilbert and Bianca walked into the café. Bianca waved at us, making her way over to our table. Hilbert followed behind her.

Hilbert took a seat beside me and reclined into the chair. His cap was misaligned on his head, his jacket looked crumpled beyond belief, and the little bit of hair poking out of his cap was messy and disheveled. "Hilbert, you look terrible. And I mean this in a totally affectionate way." I said. "I don't think I look that bad." Hilbert said, still slumped on the chair. I looked over at Bianca. "Bianca, dear… what did you do to him?" I asked, smiling sweetly at her, "We just had a battle, Hilda. He won, by the way!" Bianca said, smiling back.

"Oh, really? I'm so proud of you!" I said, patting Hilbert on the shoulder. "It certainly didn't feel like a victory…" Hilbert said. "A victory is a victory, no matter how you achieved it." Cheren said. "Exactly. Hold your head high! And not, uh, slumped over on a chair." I said.

Hilbert slowly got up and properly leaned back against the chair, though he still looked exhausted. "What time are we going to visit that Fennel lady?" I asked. "I was thinking we could visit her lab after we wrap things up here. The Striaton Gym isn't open until later this afternoon." Cheren said. Bianca nodded in agreement.

"While we're here, let's swap info. I wanna hear what you guys were up to in Route 2." Cheren continued. "Let me guess. Your trek through Route 2 was boring and uneventful, so you want to live vicariously through us." I asked, smirking. "While it may be true that nothing significant happened on the way to Striaton, I do not intend on 'living vicariously' through you." Cheren said, with air quotes. "I just feel as though there's value in sharing our experiences, if we want to grow stronger." He continued.

Bianca nodded in agreement. "Yep! I'll start with my story." Bianca said. "After finishing up my chat with Hilbert, I went off to finish my own personal business, which took quicker than I thought it would. Jolts, Coco and I trained along the way here, battling the wild Pokémon and trainers that wanted to fight." She said.

"And nothing significant happened?" Hilbert asked. " _Huh? That should have been my question._ " I thought. "Not really. It kind of felt like I was walking through the woods, you know? Well, woods that were filled with trainers and wild Pokémon." Bianca said, cupping her chin.

"Filled with trainers…?" Hilbert mumbled. I raised an eyebrow at him, but he simply stared straight ahead at Cheren. "I guess it's my turn." Cheren said. "Like you all know, I left the earliest out of all of us. I got some training in for Crown and Cloak, my purrloin." Cheren said. I winced at the word purrloin, prompting Hilbert to raise his own eyebrow at me. I shook my head and looked back at Cheren.

"Like Bianca, I battled some trainers along the way, prioritizing Cloak's training to get her up to speed. I arrived here at around 10 AM, with Bianca arriving around half an hour later." Cheren said, sipping from his mug.

"I guess it's my turn now. My story's gonna blow all of yours out of the water." I said, feeling triumphant. "Not even ten minutes after I stepped into Route 2, Smokey and I got into a huge brawl with a pack of purrloin." I said. "Smokey had to fight off two of them at once, then after she finished them off, three more came out at us! We were just about to flee, then a huge liepard came out of the forest too." I said, shivering.

Hilbert's gaze fell on me as he listened to my story. "I seriously thought we were done for, then a herdier and some lillipup came up from behind me. I was about to break down on the spot! I thought they were going to attack me, but they ran straight past me and started fighting with the liepard and its purrloin posse. Smokey and I managed to escape in the ensuing chaos, where the rest of our trip went on just like Bianca's and Cheren's." I said.

Even after I finished my story, Hilbert was still staring at me. Bianca looked at him concernedly, while Cheren looked unnerved. "Is something wrong, Hilbert?" Cheren asked. "So it was you…" Hilbert trailed off.

"Did I do something?" I asked, trying to avert my gaze from him. "You're the reason that battle broke out…" Hilbert said, still staring at me. "What? What battle?" I asked, now staring back at him.

Bianca vigorously waved her hands in front of her, trying to grab our attention. "Time out, time out. Hilbert, mind telling us your story?" Bianca said. "I thought you knew already, Bianca." Cheren said. "I told him to save it for when the four of us met up. All we did was battle." Bianca corrected.

Hilbert breathed in and closed his eyes. "The moment I stepped into Route 2, I felt like I was staring at a battlefield. There were purrloin and lillipup everywhere, all of them exhausted and drained of their energy." Hilbert said. My face grew pale. "No…" I mumbled.

"After I turned the corner, I saw a liepard and a herdier having a standoff. They might have been the same herdier and liepard from your story, Hilda." Hilbert said. "I was at a loss for what to do, but Blade urged me to assist the herdier. Which I did; Blade and the herdier pushed the liepard back, causing it to retreat into the forest." He continued.

My hands started to tremble. " _What…?_ " My thoughts raced. "I called Claude over to check out the scene after the fight. He should still be there, assisting the lillipup pack." Hilbert continued. I was at a loss for words.

"One of the lillipup from their pack joined me, actually. Hilda, I believe you're already very familiar with this little one." Hilbert said, taking out a Pokéball and passing it to me. I accepted it with my trembling hands, and pressed the button. A lillipup emerged from the Pokéball, its glare as intense as Hilbert's on a bad day.

"This is Ace. You might know him as the lillipup from yesterday." Hilbert said. "Pup." Ace barked at me. "Wait… is this the guy that attacked me yesterday morning?" I asked, surprised. Ace seemed tense as he sat on my lap. "Yes. It seems that he was grateful to me for helping out his pack, and wanted to join my team. I thought that he would want to see you again." He said.

Ace crawled closer to my belly and licked my arm. He rolled over onto his side and laid down on my lap, rubbing his face on my belly. "He seems like a completely different lillipup…" I muttered. Ace looked up and shot a powerful glare at me, as if reminding me of who he is. "Never mind. He's the exact same." I said, sighing.

"Afterwards, my own journey across Route 2 was peaceful. There were no wild Pokémon around, perhaps scared off by the liepard's escape. Unfortunately, the peace was abruptly ended by a trainer who just wanted to battle…" Hilbert trailed off, then glared at Bianca. Bianca awkwardly laughed. "Hey, now, isn't that what being a trainer's all about?" She said. Hilbert sighed. "I suppose so." He conceded.

" _So the reason that Hilbert is this exhausted is because of… me? I'm the reason why he looks so tired? I'm the reason why all those lillipup and purrloin got beat up?_ " The dark thoughts began to swirl around in my mind again. I gently set Ace on the floor and stood up. "Excuse me." I said, hastily retreating from the café.

I heard someone call out to me, but I didn't even bother to check who it was.

I ran. I ran as far as I could, having no idea where I was going. I didn't care. I just ran. Eventually, I stopped running and caught my breath. I placed my hand on something nearby and hunched over against it, catching my breath. I looked up to see that it was a tree I was hunched over.

I turned around. A beautiful view greeted me: beautiful pools of water, shrubbery of all shapes and sizes, and, most noticeably, a large fountain that spewed out water into the air. " _This view is wasted on someone like me._ " The dark thoughts continued to say.

I leaned back against the tree I was on and took a deep breath. " _Oh Arceus, Hilda, you freaked out. Now you have to go back and apologize._ " I sighed to myself.

I took the view in for what seemed like an eternity. A figure popped into view. " _Who's that…?_ " I wondered. I blinked a little and realized that it was Hilbert. " _Ghk! I need to get out of here…_ " I thought, wanting to flee. I looked to both sides of me and realized there was nowhere to go.

" _I guess this is the end. Hilbert's going to want to stop being friends with you, and hate you forever. Good going, Hilda._ " I thought. Hilbert turned around and noticed me, then started walking towards me. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable.

I waited, and waited, and waited. I waited until Hilbert would say the words I expected to hear. But they never came; instead, I felt someone wrap their arms around my shoulders and pull me close to them.

" _Huh…?_ " I thought, opening my eyes. I looked up to see who was hugging me, and saw Hilbert's blue jacket out of the corner of my eye. " _I can smell his cologne…_ " I thought, mindlessly taking in a deep breath of his scent.

"Hilda." Hilbert said. He pulled away from me and looked into my eyes. "Y-Yes…?" I asked. " _Our friendship is over._ " " _I hate you._ " " _I wish I'd never met you._ " The dark thoughts were in, full force. I could feel myself hyperventilating; my chest rapidly rising and falling until my head felt light. I was about to break down into tears, but-

"You had us worried sick. No, you had _me_ worried sick." Hilbert plainly said. "What…?" I asked, still breathing heavily. "You suddenly running off like that, then going practically missing for half an hour? It freaked me out. I thought you ran off into the forest." Hilbert said.

"You were… worried about me?" I asked, not believing what I was hearing. "Of course I am. As your best friend, you know." Hilbert said sheepishly. "As my… what? You're accepting it?" I prodded. "Don't make me say it again! It doesn't change the fact that I was worried sick." Hilbert said, sighing.

"Why would you be worried about me? After what I put you through?" I asked. "What you put me through?" Hilbert asked, his brow furrowed. "You know… the liepard." I said, the words not coming to me. "That? Hilda, you couldn't have possibly foreseen that would happen. Nobody could have." Hilbert said. "But it doesn't change the fact that I-" I said, but Hilbert cut me off.

"It doesn't matter. It wasn't your fault. You just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." I said. "How can you be so sure?" I asked, looking for affirmation. "Bianca and Cheren passed by there and nothing happened, didn't they? I'm sure countless other trainers did as well." Hilbert said. "Then they must have only gone for me knowing that I'm we-" "You're not weak, Hilda. Didn't you defeat a trainer on the way here? Even if you're 'weak', just like you say, then there were surely better targets!" Hilbert shouted.

I stared at him with a blank expression, and slowly started to laugh. "Did I say something funny?" Hilbert asked. "No… you just suck at this, you know? Cheering people up." I said, still kind of laughing. "You know I'm trying to help you." Hilbert said. "And you're doing it in the most Hilbert-y way possible. I'm glad you haven't changed." I said.

I sighed and weakly collapsed onto Hilbert. He caught me as I fell forwards, gently placing his hands on my back and supporting me. "I just… felt like I was being a massive burden to you, you know? Even if it wasn't my fault, like you say, it doesn't change the fact that I caused it. And that led to you having to deal with that all on your own." I said into his chest.

"I wasn't alone. I had Blade, and afterwards, Claude. I don't know what would have happened if either of them weren't there." Hilbert said. "When I heard that you had to fight off the liepard that I ran from, I felt so incredibly useless. You didn't run from it, and you managed to beat it." I said, now crying into his chest.

Hilbert gently rubbed circles around my back. "I got to know the herdier a little bit, you know." He said. "What did you find out?" I asked. "The herdier told me to run away too, but Blade could tell that it needed help. That's the only reason I helped the herdier to begin with; I could have even helped out the liepard because of how it was staring at me." Hilbert said.

"So Smokey wasn't good enough?" I asked. "You're right. I suck at this." Hilbert said, giving a deep sigh. "No, Hilda. The herdier probably thought it could take the liepard alone, which is why Smokey didn't say anything. You can ask her later, and I'm sure she'll agree with me." Hilbert said. "Ehehe… you seriously suck at this." I said, both laughing and crying. "Seriously, are you okay, or what?" Hilbert asked.

"Not really. I still feel like I'm a burden to you. You know, being a pain in the ass." I admitted. "Hilda, let me clear up two things. One, you really are a pain in the ass. Two, remember what I said in Accumula? I've never seen you as a burden, and I doubt I ever will." He said.

I smiled at his kind words, until I realized the meaning of the first half. "Hey!" I complained, pulling away from him. "What do you mean I'm a pain in the ass?!" I said, lightly pounding at his chest. "I mean what I said. You annoy the hell out of me sometimes, you know? You're moody as hell, and you eat all of our food." Hilbert said, starting to sound amused. "Grr, I'll show you moody!" I complained, continuing to pound on his chest.

"See? Pain in the ass." He said, laughing as he took hold of my wrists. "I don't get it. Aren't being a burden and a pain in the ass the same thing?" I asked. "No. Being a pain in the ass means you annoy me from time to time, but it never really leads anywhere. Being a burden means you're actively dragging me down. I've never felt like you've actively dragged me down." He said, then let go of my wrists.

"Then you're a pain in the ass, too! Seriously, your dumb serious attitude that changes at the drop of a hat…" I huffed, crossing my arms. "I admit that." Hilbert said, now smirking. "Grr…" I growled. "Hilda, do you think I'm a burden?" Hilbert asked. "Of course not! Remember that battle with the scolipede? You called the shots while I just-" I cut myself off, realizing what I'd just said. "See? You consider me to be the same." Hilbert said. "I guess I do, but what of it?!" I shouted.

"I won't deny that the incident with the liepard was a pain in the ass for me." I said, to which I winced. "However, it was a very good learning experience for me. Wouldn't you say that's the opposite of being a burden?" He asked. "I-I guess…" I said, trailing off.

Hilbert sighed. "I can tell that you aren't going to magically think you're not a burden to me overnight." He said. "Hey!" I complained. "It's true, isn't it?" He said. "...I guess." I admitted. "So why don't we travel together? So that you can prove to yourself that you aren't a burden to me." He offered.

"Prove to… myself?" I asked. "You've already proven to me that you aren't a burden. You just need to prove it to yourself." Hilbert said, now looking into my eyes. I returned his gaze and frowned. "Fine, but you'll be traveling with a pain in the ass. That okay with you?" I huffed. Hilbert smirked. "I should ask you the same thing." He said.

"Grr…" I growled, but eventually started laughing. Hilbert's dumb, annoying smirk turned into a laugh as well. We laughed at each other for a solid minute then started going back to the café.

"And just so you know, a gigalith would beat an excadrill in a fight, any day." I huffed. "Why are you bringing this up again?" Hilbert asked. "Cheren asked me about it, and I remembered we never finished that fight. Seriously, do you see all those crystals? An excadrill would break its piddly little claws on them!" I said. "Those 'piddly little claws' you so speak of would absolutely rip through the gigalith's crystals, thank you." Hilbert said.

We argued like that until we got back to the café, not caring about how the passersby were staring at us.

"I told you, a single earthquake from a gigalith would destroy the excadrill in one hit!" I shouted. "Not if the excadrill moves first and uses its earthquake first. Tell me, between them, who's faster?!" Hilbert shouted back. We were practically at each other's throats now, the waiter from earlier now glaring at us full force.

"I regret bringing this argument back up. I absolutely regret bringing this argument back up." Cheren deadpanned, cradling his forehead with his hands. "G-Guys, you might want to calm down or we really might get kicked out." Bianca said, trying to placate us. I checked my Xtransceiver. "It's almost time for the Striaton Gym to open. We should get to the lab." I said. Cheren nodded in agreement.

We paid for our drinks - and profusely apologized to the waiters at the request of Bianca - and left the café. Hilbert and I were still arguing about which one would win, but we eventually decided to settle it later - again, at Bianca's request. " _For the record, I still think a gigalith would win._ " I thought. "Wrong." Hilbert said. "Were you reading my mind?" I asked. "It's all over your face." He replied, smirking. "Grr…" I growled.

"I know this is a little late to ask, but did Professor Juniper actually tell us where the lab is?" I asked. "How hard can it be to find? The professor's lab sticks out like a sore thumb. This one can't be less conspicuous, especially if she's such an esteemed academic." Hilbert said. "She is, and I agree. Let's just walk around." Cheren said.

We walked, and walked, and walked. And we found nothing. "Damn it! Couldn't the professor have at least given us some directions?!" Hilbert loudly complained. "I'll try asking a local." Bianca said, then approached a random passerby.

While Bianca was chatting up the passerby, Hilbert looked over at me. "Eh?" I asked, turning to face him. "Nothing. Just enjoying the scenery." He said, parroting my words from earlier. I glared at him, then looked the opposite direction from him. "Gross." I said, crossing my arms. Hilbert snickered at me.

Cheren muttered something beneath his breath. "Bianca, please hurry up…" He complained. Bianca returned to us and took a look at each of our faces. "I was gone for a minute. What happened?" She asked. "Hilbert's being creepy." "Hilda doesn't know how to take a compliment." We said. "Let's just get a move on. Bianca, did you figure out where the lab is?" Cheren asked.

"Yeah. It's right across the Striaton Gym." Bianca said. The four of us made our way to the front of the Striaton Gym. "We're here. Where is it?" Hilbert asked. "I don't see anything that looks like a lab from here." I said. "Do you think that guy was lying?" Bianca asked, looking worried. "I doubt he'd have a reason to lie. Maybe he was just mistaken?" Cheren said.

"Let's just ask someone else. Hey, you!" I called out to a random girl who just walked out of the Gym. "Yes?" She said, stopping in her tracks. Bianca gently nudged my arm with her elbow. "Be polite, Hilda…" She muttered. "Do you know where Fennel's laboratory is? See, we're trainers that were sent to meet with her…" I said. "Oh, are you the trainers Aurea told us about?" The lady asked, " _Aurea?_ " I wondered.

"Who's Aurea?" Hilbert asked. Cheren and Bianca looked at him like he was from another planet. "That's Professor Juniper's first name. Aurea. Aurea Juniper." Cheren said. "Oh. I thought her first name was Juniper." Hilbert said. Cheren stared at him, while Bianca just awkwardly laughed. " _Now's probably not the time to say that I didn't know her first name either…_ " I thought.

"Alright, alright, let's get to the lab. I'm Amanita, by the way. Fennel's amazing younger sister!" She said, placing her hands on her hips and smiling triumphantly. Amanita was wearing glasses similar to Cheren's, and an oversized labcoat around her body. The sleeves completely covered up her hands, and even went past them.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Amanita…" I said, extending my hand out to her. "Oh, no need to call me Miss Amanita. I'm probably younger than you guys after all!" She said, either not noticing my extended hand or ignoring it. My arm uselessly slumped back beside me.

Amanita led us to a house across the Striaton Gym. She unlocked the door and opened it, gesturing inside. "Come in, come in! We have so much to talk about!" She chirped. "You're an excitable one…" Hilbert said. Bianca elbowed Hilbert in the side, causing him to nearly fall over. "Ow!" He complained.

"Fennel says I should stop drinking coffee. Says it's not good for my health, or my sleep patterns. Or was it not good for her health? Whatever, doesn't matter. Sit down!" She rambled, leading us to a couch.

The four of us sat on the couch, tense. Cheren's eyes were darting all over the place. "This doesn't seem like much of a lab." He said. "Would it kill you guys to be polite?!" Bianca snapped. The three of us fell silent at her sudden outburst.

"No, no, it's fine, it's fine! Promise. Aurea already told us not to be too offended by whatever you guys said." Amanita said. "I'm going to have a real talk with 'Aurea' the next time I see her…" Hilbert said, venom clearly lacing the professor's name. "Hilbert, please…" I pleaded, using my favorite tactic - lillipup eyes - on Hilbert. He balked and turned towards Bianca, who looked at him with a confused expression. "Carry on." He said.

"I'm sorry!" Amanita suddenly said, her head bowed down low to us. "For what?" Bianca asked. "The truth is, Fennel isn't here right now. She's over at Nacrene City on official business. She'll be back later this afternoon, though!" Amanita said, her head still bowed.

"R-Raise your head, Amanita, it's not your fault." Bianca tentatively said. Amanita slowly raised her head and tears were welling up in her eyes. "If it's any consolation, Fennel said that you guys could rest up here until she arrives." Amanita said. "Then we'll do just that, then! Just don't cry, please…" I said. "Really? You're not mad?" Amanita asked. "We aren't." Cheren said, sighing.

Amanita's pained expression abruptly turned into one of excitement. "Yay! You guys weren't nearly as bad as Aurea painted you out to be." Amanita said. "Don't take it the wrong way, she said that you're all nice people, but difficult to handle." Amanita continued.

Nobody could avoid noticing the sheer anger emanating from Hilbert. Not even Amanita. "I'm going back to Nuvema Town. I need to have a talk with our beloved Aurea." He said, his voice monotone. "Hilbert, I think it's best if you stayed here in the lab. Totally not because you would definitely tear Professor Juniper's lab apart if you actually did go back there, but because you need the rest." I said.

"Don't worry. I won't do anything that will leave a lasting impression." Hilbert said, his voice still monotone. "Hilbert…" I said, now staring into his eyes. "You're going to stay here. I'm staying with you to make sure you won't do anything stupid." I said, giving him a hollow smile that didn't reach my eyes. Hilbert looked visibly unsettled and refused to meet my gaze. "Fine. I'll play nice." Hilbert conceded.

Amanita walked over to Bianca. "Are those two usually like this?" She asked. "All the time. You get used to it." Bianca said, blankly smiling at Amanita. Amanita gulped.

"It's 12 noon right now. Let's go grab some lunch somewhere and head back here. We have some time to kill before the Gym battle, after all." Cheren said. "Oh, are you challenging the Striaton Gym? You should have lunch there!" Amanita suggested. "Lunch… at the Gym?" Bianca asked.

"Yeah, the Gym is one of Unova's most famous restaurants. Half due to the amazing food there, and half due to the Gym leaders!" Amanita chirped. "About the Gym leaders… what are they like?" Cheren asked. "I won't spoil the surprise for you. Find out for yourself at lunch!" Amanita said, blowing a raspberry at us.

Hilbert waved a hand in front of his face. "Then that settles it. We're going to have lunch there. I'm personally curious as to the dishes they serve." Hilbert said. "You going to ask the cooks for pointers?" I asked, then put a finger to my chin.

"Hmm… so, Hilbert, you doing anything tonight?" I asked again as I suggestively walked up to him. I placed a hand against his chest, looked up into his eyes and gave him a foxy smile. "You don't need to put on an act if you want me to feed you. Just say the word." Hilbert said, sighing at my attempt to seduce him. "You're no fun." I complained, sticking my tongue out at him.

"You sure they're always like this?" Amanita asked again. "They've always been honest with each other, for what that's worth." Bianca said. "We can hear you, you know." Hilbert said. "I know!" Bianca replied, smiling innocently at him.

Cheren cleared his throat. "Amanita, are you joining us?" I asked. "Nope! I just had lunch. That place is really packed around this hour, but I think you could find some seats." Amanita said.

Hilbert nodded. "We'll be back." He said. "See you later, Amanita!" Bianca said. "Enjoy your meal!" Amanita said as she waved her arms in the air, oversized lab coat sleeves flailing wildly.

The four of us left Amanita's lab and went over to the Striaton Gym… for a meal.

* * *

" _That professor won't know what's coming to her._ " I thought. " _I'm going to need to figure out a way to distract Hilda if I want to go back to Nuvema Town. Maybe if I sicced Ace on her?_ " I wondered.

"Hilbert, it's seriously written all over your face. You're not leaving my sight for a second." Hilda said, sighing. "...Fine." I said, not wanting to press the issue. " _You're safe for now, Aurea._ " I conceded. Hilda rammed her elbow into my side. "Argh! What for?!" I loudly complained. "For even thinking about harassing Professor Juniper." Hilda said, crossing her arms. "But he does that every time he sees her." Cheren said. Hilda glared at him and he quickly shut up.

We made it to the entrance of the Striaton Gym. " _Looking at it from this close up, even the entrance seems marvelous. What could be waiting for us inside?_ " I thought. Cheren pushed the doors open, allowing us to take a good look of what was inside.

If the entrance was beautiful, then the restaurant itself could easily class as a world renowned five-star restaurant. The lush, velvet carpeting could be felt even through my sneakers. The wallpaper was light and pleasing to the eyes, while the lights were noticeably incandescent, making it even more of a relaxing experience. The tables were rectangular and covered in tablecloth, while the chairs looked like they could pass for miniature thrones.

Admittedly, I'm exaggerating a bit, but the Striaton Gym really was incredibly nice.

The real standouts, however, were the waiters and waitresses. All of them were dressed impeccably and carried themselves like a high class waiter or waitress ought to, each step poised and calculated so as to give an air of regality. There were practically stars in Hilda's eyes. "Wow… you're telling me this is a Gym? It looks like a high end restaurant!" Hilda said.

A waitress came up to us. "Table for four?" She asked. "That would be lovely!" Bianca said. The waitress gave us a polite smile and led us to a vacant table.

I glanced down at the table, and saw all sorts of utensils used in fine dining. " _Let's see. A charger, a dinner plate, and a salad plate. Forks to the left, dinner knife and soup spoon to the right. Dessert utensils up top, glasses to the top right, bread implements on the top left. And of course, a napkin. As expected of one of the so-called 'best restaurants in Unova'._ " I said, taking inventory of the tableware.

Hilda, who was sitting beside me, stared at the dinnerware in front of her with a mix of confusion and awe. "W… What are all these? Why are there three forks? Three spoons? Why are these plates stacked on top of each other?! And why are there so many glasses?!" Hilda quietly said beside me.

Ignoring her, I quietly unfolded my napkin and set it on my lap. Bianca and Cheren did the same, leaving Hilda as the only one still with her napkin on the table. I gently nudged Hilda in the arm with my elbow, trying to get her attention. "What?" She quietly asked. I glanced down at my napkin then glanced at hers, trying to send the message.

Fortunately, she understood and placed her napkin on her lap. She made a show of whipping it in the air instead of unfolding it, unfortunately. I grimaced at her, but it was good enough. " _I'm going to have to teach her some table manners._ " I thought.

A waitress came up to us, notepad in one hand and menus in the other. She distributed the menus among us and took out an ornate fountain pen. "Good afternoon! My name is Tia, and I will be your waitress for today." She said, introducing herself with a curtsy. I politely acknowledged her with a nod, with Cheren and Bianca following my lead. Hilda stared at her wide eyed, until I elbowed her in the arm.

I looked through the menu and decided on my order. "I would like to order amoonguss soup and roast ducklett. For the salad, I would like to request today's special." I said. The waitress wrote down my order and patiently waited for the rest. "I'll have the same." Cheren said. "Me too." Bianca followed up. "And you, miss?" The waitress asked Hilda as she wrote down Cheren and Bianca's orders.

"Uh, uh, uh…" Hilda said, still staring at the menu. "If you can't decide, you can order the same as us." I said. "O-Okay, then I'll order the same…" Hilda muttered. "Your orders will be ready in fifteen minutes." The waitress said as she took our menus back, then walked away.

Cheren closed his eyes, perhaps waiting for the time to pass. Bianca looked around the restaurant, pausing every time something caught her eye. Meanwhile, Hilda was slightly hunched over, her eyes darting everywhere. "Is this your first time eating in a high class restaurant, Hilda?" I asked. "No!" She said. "Really?" I prodded. "...Yes." She admitted, deeply sighing.

"Okay, at least tell me you know what these utensils are used for." I said. "O-Of course I do! This is for, uh… eating. And this one over here is for… cutting things up." She said, pointing at the fork and then at the knife. "You're going to need to be more specific." I said, sighing.

"Okay, fine! I don't understand any of this! I never got the chance to visit a fine dining establishment until today." Hilda said, nearly slamming her fists on the table. "Let me teach you. Give me your hand." I said, extending my left hand out to her. She took it with her right hand, then I adjusted it so that I was gently holding on to her palm.

"It depends on the culture of the local area, but generally you want to start with the outermost utensils first, then slowly working your way to the innermost ones. Incidentally, the small fork on the inner right is used for salads, and the spoon on the right is used for soup." I explained, gesturing using her own hand. Hilda's hand was sweating, but I paid it no heed. " _She needs to learn this. Probably._ " I thought.

"Go on…" She said. "Your sweaty palms aside… Let's move onto the plates. The bottom plate is just for decoration. The plate above it is what you actually eat from, while the plate above that one is for salads." I explained. "Can't I eat everything from the biggest plate? It just seems wasteful." Hilda said, sighing. " _Really, I can't argue with that…_ " I sighed.

"Next is up above the plates. That spoon and fork pair is for dessert, while over on the top left is for bread. The glasses should be obvious, but they serve different purposes. One is for water, another is for red wine, and the last one is for white wine. But we're minors, so we can't exactly have wine. Maybe sparkling grape juice." I said.

"This is all so unnecessarily complicated…" Hilda said, the light leaving her eyes. "When did you learn all of this?" She asked. "Hoenn." I replied. "You remember all of that?" Hilda asked, surprised. "Mother drilled it into my head. Said that even if we lived on an island away from the mainland, I still needed to act like a gentleman." I said. "You're anything but a gentleman." Hilda scoffed. "Pot calling the kettle black, I see." I shot back.

"Grr… for your information, since my parents and I were traveling around a lot, they never really had the time to teach me this stuff. The most I learned was basic table manners." She said. "At least you have those. If you didn't, I wouldn't feed you until you'd learned it." I said. "Who says I want you to feed me?" Hilda said, nearly banging her free hand on the table. "You did." I deadpanned.

"Can you guys not start a fight, especially here? Besides, you two are still holding hands." Cheren said, practically begging for us to shut up. We glanced at our hands at the same time and noticed that they were still locked together. Hilda quickly pulled her hand back and wiped it against her napkin, while I simply returned my arm to my side.

"You know, I should be the one wiping my hand. Your palms were sweatier than mine, after all." I said. "Shut it, or I'll make you sweat for real." Hilda snapped. I snickered. Bianca simply smiled at us, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Our food should be here any minute now. Let's behave, shall we?" Bianca said.

A few minutes later, our soup arrived. I gently dipped the soup spoon into the soup and brought it to my mouth, savoring the taste. " _Amoonguss soup. Definitely going to have to find a recipe for this one._ " I thought. I glanced at Bianca and Cheren, who were calmly sipping the soup. Hilda was struggling, some of her soup spilling onto the table.

"Hilda, spoon it away from you so that it doesn't spill. Keep your hand steady, too, but that goes without saying." I said. I expected her to vehemently deny by advice and tell her she knew what she was doing, but she followed my advice and managed to avoid spilling her soup. " _She must be really off her game to accept my advice without hesitation._ " I thought.

Next came the main course. We received our roast ducklett, which both looked and smelled appetizing. " _If I weren't used to eating Pokémon already, this would have been incredibly difficult._ " I mused. I calmly worked my way through the meal, gently cutting bite-sized pieces of ducklett off and bringing them to my mouth.

I glanced over at Hilda, who was trying to eat the ducklett as if it were a combusken drumstick. "Hilda. Cut it up." I said, gesturing to my plate. She nodded and cut up her ducklett to pieces, as if preparing a meal for a child. "That's… no, it's fine. Good enough." I said, sighing. Bianca and Cheren paid us no mind, simply enjoying their meal. " _Maybe the fact that we aren't arguing is good enough for them._ " I thought.

Lastly, the salad. Our salad arrived: a simple, leafy salad with berries mixed in. " _I'm sure Blade and Ace would love this. I wonder if I could take some of this with me?_ " I thought. Shaking the thought off, I took the salad fork and worked my way through the salad.

Again, I glanced over at Hilda, who used her dinner fork for the salad. I nudged her side to grab her attention and raised the fork I was holding, trying to tell her to use that one. She got the hint and set her dinner fork to the side, and used the salad fork to eat instead. " _I really am going to need to teach her the basics of fine dining._ " I thought.

Once we finished our meals, the waitress came back over. "Would you like dessert?" She asked. "Yes. I would like to order a slice of carrot cake." I said, recalling what was on the menu. "Chocolate cake for me." "Red velvet cake, please." Cheren and Bianca said. "I'll have uh… uh…" Hilda trailed off. "She would like a slice of Pecha berry cake." I said, giving Hilda an out. She looked over at me and shot me an incredibly grateful look.

"Certainly. I'll have your orders in just a minute." The waitress said, giving us a polite curtsy as she left. Hilda begrudgingly gripped my sleeve. "Thanks for the save." She said. "Any time." I replied. I turned to look at her face, which was red hot with embarrassment. Bianca awkwardly smiled, while Cheren just looked disinterested.

Our cake eventually arrived. "Use the utensils above your plate." I told Hilda. She nervously gripped the small fork and started chipping away at the cake. "Wow… this is really good." She said. I took a bite out of my own cake and swallowed. "It really does." I said. Bianca and Cheren nodded in agreement, both of them working on their own slices of cake.

Hilda was the first to finish, having practically scarfed the entire cake up. "Hilbert, do you know how to bake?" She asked me. "No. I'm sure I could get Bianca to teach me, though." I said. "I'm looking forward to it." She said, rubbing her belly. "You really are simple, you know that?" I said. "Hey!" She complained.

A few minutes after finishing our cake, a waiter approached our table, bill in hand. His hair was noticeably bright green. "Here's your check." He said, handing me the bill. "Pardon my intrusion, but can I ask you a couple of questions?" He asked. "That's fine." Cheren said, speaking for all of us.

"Thank you. I assume you're here to challenge the Striaton Gym?" The waiter asked, getting straight to the point. "Yes, we are. Do you know the Gym leader?" Cheren asked. "You could say that. May I know what your starter Pokémon are?" The waiter asked. We each said our starter Pokémon, the waiter scribbling into his notepad.

"A Tynamo? That's unusual, but we can make it work." The waiter said. "Ah, where are my manners? I'm Cilan, one of the Gym leaders of the Striaton Gym." Cilan said, bowing. "Hold on. 'One of the' Gym leaders?" Cheren asked. "You'll see what I mean when we open up later. Please, do prepare yourself." He said, politely smiling.

I opened up the check and my eyes nearly shot out of my head. "F… Fifty thousand Pokédollars?" I muttered. Cilan nodded. "Individually, you'll each have to pay 12500 Pokédollars each, if you plan on splitting the bill. Most trainers do. However, if you can clear the Striaton Gym, we can waive the bill." Cilan said, smiling at us.

"The Gym accepts challengers starting 2:30 PM, correct?" Cheren asked. "Indeed." Cilan said, pulling out a pocket watch. "It is currently 12:45 PM, so we should be accepting challengers relatively soon. Fortunately, you're the only challengers lined up for today, so you should be able to come in anytime before the dinner service at 7 PM." Cilan said.

I handed the check back to Cilan. He opened the check and found no money inside. "I take it as though all of you are going to challenge the Gym?" He asked. We all nodded our heads in unison. "Very well! We shall await your challenge." Cilan said, bowing before he departed.

The waitress from earlier came back to our table. "Will that be all?" She asked. "Yes." I said, handing her a tip. "My gratitude, sir." She thanked me, politely curtseying. I slowly stood up to leave, and the others followed suit. Soon enough, we found ourselves back outside of the Gym.

"What are you guys going to do until the Gym opens?" Hilda asked. "You're keeping me under house arrest." I said. "Well, other than the two of us. How about you two?" Hilda asked Cheren and Bianca. "I was thinking of checking out the Trainer's School. No better time than ever to brush up on some lessons." Cheren said. "Oh, I'll come with you. That sounds fun!" Bianca said.

"Studying, fun…?" I muttered. "Oh, right. You never liked studying." Hilda said, sighing. " _It's not that I don't like it. It's just that I find it incredibly boring._ " I thought. "You know what, Hilbert? I'm dragging you along to the Trainer's School. I hope you don't mind, Hilda." Cheren said. "Of course I don't! Anything to get Hilbert occupied. Bianca, are you going to join them?" Hilda asked. "If Hilbert's going with Cheren, then I guess I'll stay at the lab. I kinda wanna talk to Amanita." Bianca said.

I sighed. "I'm not getting out of this one, aren't I." I said. "Nope!" Hilda chirped. "Perfect. Are we going now?" I asked, just wanting to get it over with. "The early tranquill catches the sewaddle. Let's go, Hilbert." Cheren said. "I'll see you back at the lab." I said, turning to Hilda. "Study hard!" Hilda said, giving me a smile.

We split up; Cheren and I headed to the Trainer's School, while Hilda and Bianca went back to the lab.

Fortunately, the Trainer's School was right next to the Striaton Gym, so we didn't have to walk far. "I'm almost completely positive they'll teach us things we already know. Especially you, Cheren." I said. "Even if we already know the stuff they're going to teach us, it's never a bad idea to have a refresher. Especially since we're about to take on the Striaton Gym." Cheren said.

"I suppose. What do you expect we'll learn there?" I asked. "Hm. Since the Trainer's School doesn't seem to have set classes, it's probably just going to be like a library. Browsing through textbooks, or listening to whatever lecture is going on." Cheren said. "Lectures and textbooks. My two greatest nightmares." I deadpanned.

"Don't you want to learn how to cook to impress your mom? This is just the same thing, but with Pokémon." Cheren said. "My cooking already impresses mother." I plainly said. "You get my point. This is just the same thing as learning how to cook." Cheren said. "If you say so." I replied, sighing.

We entered the Trainer's School. We found ourselves in the building's lobby, with the classroom further inside. There appeared to be a lecture going on. I looked to the right, and saw a few bookshelves and a bench. "I'll check out the lecture. What are you going to do?" Cheren asked. "I think I'll take a look at the books over there." I said. Cheren nodded and took a seat in the classroom.

I looked over the bookshelf and cringed. " _Too long. Let's find a short one._ " I thought. I picked out a relatively thin book and read the title. " _The Fairy Type: A Primer. What could this be about?_ " I wondered.

I opened the book and read the introduction. " _Recent studies in the Kalos region revealed the existence of another type, separate from the 17 currently established types: the fairy type. Much like how the dark and steel types were discovered in the Johto region, studies are being conducted on Pokémon across all regions to confirm if they have properties that are observed in the fairy types endemic to the Kalos region._

_Studies have shown that the ralts family from Hoenn, the cottonee family from Unova and the marill family from Johto have exhibited properties similar to that of known fairy types. Currently, tests are being conducted on the togepi family from Johto and the clefairy family from Kanto to determine if they truly belong to the fairy type._ " The introduction said. I skimmed across the book, looking for the section on cottonee.

" _Ah, there it is._ " I thought as I landed on the section on cottonee. " _Cottonee and whimsicott were previously believed to have been pure grass type. A closer study of their movepool shows that they are able to learn and perform the powerful fairy type move known as moonblast, as well as the weaker fairy wind. Testing for weaknesses and resistances showed that whimsicott was completely unaffected by a hydreigon's outrage, which was previously thought to be impossible in the Unova region._

_Though the fairy type blesses it with a myriad of new strengths, it is now subsequently extremely vulnerable to poison, so any enterprising whimsicott owner should take care around the venipede line, as both of these families are native to the Pinwheel Forest in southeastern Unova."_ The section on whimsicott explained.

I closed the book and returned it back to the shelf, then picked another one at random, titled Hidden Abilities. I skimmed through the pages and found an interesting paragraph.

" _Dr. Fennel of Striaton City discovered that Pokémon are able to have an ability separate from its one or two natural abilities. The original name for these abilities was 'Dream World ability', based on her field of expertise, but have since been renamed Hidden Abilities, as Pokémon with these abilities were found outside of the dream world._

_A drug called the Ability Capsule is being produced in the Kalos and Hoenn regions, able to change the ability of any Pokémon with two natural abilities. Dr. Fennel was asked as to her opinion of developing a similar drug that allows a Pokémon to switch between their natural abilities and their hidden abilities, but she was unable to confirm anything at the time. She hypothesized that the dream mist from the Pokémon munna and musharna, both Unova regionals, may be able to influence a Pokémon's hidden ability, but she stated that she would have to conduct more research in order to discover whether that really is the case."_ The book said.

"' _Dr.' Fennel? I suppose that is to be expected from an associate of the professor's._ " I thought. I slipped the book back into the bookshelf and went into the classroom.

I took a seat beside Cheren and listened to the lecture. "It seems that the topic for today is about status conditions: major and minor." Cheren said. "Minor? Like confusion?" I asked. Cheren nodded. "Among other things. Eyes on the board." He said.

I looked over at the board, where the teacher was writing something. "The five major status conditions are poison, burn, paralysis, sleep, and freeze. There is a subset of poison called bad poison, but for the purposes of this lecture we will consider them to be the same thing." The teacher said.

"A Pokémon cannot be affected by more than one major status condition at the same time. The reason for this is still unknown, but there has been no observed case where a Pokémon has been afflicted by more than one of these status conditions at the same time.

Poison is the simplest status condition. It lowers the afflicted Pokémon's health by a little bit every few seconds. Bad poison is initially weaker than regular poison, but over time it eventually becomes infinitely stronger, able to faint a Pokémon in seconds. Both of these moves are commonly inflicted by poison type moves, but there are other ways of inflicting poison." The teacher explained.

I glanced over at Cheren. "Poison and bad poison. If it were you, which one would you utilize?" I asked. "Bad poison, always. Although it starts off weak, the effect snowballs to a point where you cannot ignore its effects on the enemy's - or your own - Pokémon." He said. I nodded and went back to the discussion.

"Burn is similar to poison. It lowers a Pokémon's health by a little over time, much like poison, but the health it lowers is lower compared to poison and bad poison. Burn is quite threatening to physical attackers, as being burned halves a Pokémon's attack stat. However, Pokémon with the ability Guts, such as conkeldurr, are able to turn that penalty into a boon. Speaking of that ability, a Pokémon with Guts is able to greatly boost its physical attack when afflicted by any major status condition, while at the same time negating the attack penalty of being burned." The teacher explained.

"Is there no variant of this for special attackers?" I asked Cheren. "Not to my knowledge, no." He said. "That seems unfair." I said. "I guess so." Cheren shrugged, as we both went back to the lecture.

"Paralysis severely restricts a Pokémon's movement, and may even cause them to stop moving completely for a moment of time. Pokémon with the ability Limber, such as some liepard, are immune to being paralyzed. Electric type Pokémon are also naturally immune to paralysis, and cannot be paralyzed by any move or ability.

Sleep and freeze are two very similar status ailments: they completely stop a Pokémon from attacking. Unlike the previous status ailments, these two wear off over time, and there are certain moves that can remove them. A Pokémon that uses a move that allows it to self-immolate such as flare blitz will remove the freeze status condition, while the move sleep talk allows a Pokémon to randomly use a move it knows even while asleep. The move called rest even induces sleep, causing a Pokémon to rapidly recover its health and stamina." The teacher continued.

"Among paralysis, sleep, or freeze, which one would you prefer to inflict?" I asked. "To my knowledge, there's no surefire way to freeze an enemy Pokémon. Paralysis can be inflicted by the move thunder wave, but that move has a tendency to miss. There is a move called spore that is mushroom type Pokémon such as amoonguss can use, but it is relatively rare compared to thunder wave users." Cheren said. "Personally, though, I would use paralysis. Though that's just my opinion." He finished, as we both returned to the discussion.

"There are countless minor status conditions that can be inflicted by a wide variety of moves. Minor status conditions can be inflicted on Pokémon with a major status condition, as well as Pokémon with other minor status conditions. For now, we will only cover two kinds: confusion and recharging.

Confusion is commonly inflicted by bat type Pokémon, such as the woobat found in Wellspring Cave. Confusion gives your Pokémon a low chance to strike itself in its confusion, hurting itself giving the enemy a chance to attack. This is commonly combined with paralysis, giving rise to a strategy informally known as parafusion. This strategy gives the opponent an extremely low chance of attacking, and when combined with a move that has a chance to flinch your enemy, is quite brutal." The teacher explained.

"Parafusion. Does that sound like a legitimate strategy, or is it just cowardly?" I asked Cheren. "Personally, it feels cowardly, but a victory is a victory. It counts as a viable tactic, so I don't think it should be disqualified as a strategy." Cheren said. "So cowardly, then." I said. Cheren nodded, and we both went back to the lecture.

"Recharging is commonly observed when a Pokémon uses an extremely powerful move, such as hyper beam. A Pokémon that uses this move has to spend the next minute or so recharging, leaving it vulnerable to enemy attacks. Of course, if the enemy was wiped out by the move in question, then there's no problem, but during trainer battles the opposing trainer can send out their next Pokémon to finish yours off." The teacher explained.

"Massive power for a massive cost. Would you take it?" I asked Cheren. "Only if I was absolutely sure that I could win the battle using it. Otherwise, the risks are just too great. I would rather use them on wild Pokémon, where I know I'll only have to deal with one at a time." Cheren said. " _Not according to Hilda._ " I thought, then went back to the lecture.

"I implore you all to read up on the rest of the minor status conditions. Using them may very well turn the tides of battle in your favor. Class dismissed!" The teacher said, then left the classroom. The other trainers in the classroom started chatting with each other about the lesson. Cheren was scribbling in his notebook, hastily taking down notes.

I took out my Pokédex and started fiddling with it, reviewing the kinds of Pokémon I'd encountered thus far. " _So the Pokédex even records data of Pok_ é _mon you meet out of battle? Interesting."_ I thought, because I noticed data of unfezant displayed on the Pokédex.

"Hilbert." Cheren said, having finished writing in his notebook. "There's another bookshelf over there. Do you want to check it out?" He asked. "I would say I've had my fair share of books for one lifetime, but there are things I'm genuinely curious about." I said. "So yes, I'd like to check it out." I said.

"Splendid. Let's go." Cheren said as he packed up his things. I slipped my Pokédex back into my bag and joined Cheren as he walked over to the bookshelf.

" _Time to see if there are any more books about abilities…_ "

* * *

The moment we arrived back at the lab, I immediately flopped onto the couch. "Urgh! I hate fine dining." I loudly complained. "Oh, you're back. Where are the boys?" Amanita asked. She was sitting by her desk, using a computer. "They went over to the Trainer's School. Bianca and I came back here because Bianca wanted to talk to you." I said.

"Ooh, talking. I love talking!" Amanita said, still working at her computer. "Yeah, I kinda got that." I deadpanned. "Don't be like that, Hilda! It's not every day we see a girl as bubbly as Amanita!" Bianca said as she walked in. "What about me?" I asked. "Uh… I guess you're bubbly around me!" Bianca said. "What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, squinting at her.

"Anyway, scooch over." Bianca said. Still lying on the couch, I moved my body a little bit so that Bianca could sit. "I haven't been to a fine dining restaurant in awhile. It was like a test to see how much I remembered." Bianca said. "Yeah, the Striaton Gym's pretty classy. You didn't embarrass yourself, right?" Amanita asked. "I didn't. But Hilda…" Bianca trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't know the first thing about fine dining." I said, burying my face into a pillow. "Just get Hilbert to teach you. He seems pretty experienced." Bianca said. "Ugh, I know. I hope you didn't notice him constantly bailing me out." I said, burying my face even deeper into the pillow. "Ahaha, uh, everyone could see it." Bianca said, awkwardly laughing. "Just great." I said, the pillow now becoming one with my face.

"What's the deal between you and Hilbert anyway? I can't tell if you guys hate each other or like each other." Amanita bluntly said. "It's… kind of both. Sure, he pisses me off all the time, but he always helps me out and bails me out of trouble." I said. Bianca laughed. "We like to tease them for always fighting in front of us." She said.

"Okay! Time for some girl talk." Bianca said. "Ooh, girl talk? I love girl talk." Amanita said, quickly running up and jumping onto my legs. "Ouch! Get off!" I loudly complained. "Nope!" Amanita said. "Fine, just… let me adjust myself." I said, then adjusted myself so I was properly sitting down on the couch.

I braced myself for the inevitable "girl talk" conversation Bianca loved so much. " _Every time she gets like this, she's impossible to stop… motor mouth._ " I internally complained. "So, Hilda, how far have you gone with Hilbert?" Bianca asked. " _Oh Arceus, it's an inquisition._ "

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, pretending not to know what she means. "You know, how many shakes of the Pokéball have you done?" Bianca clarified. "Bianca, when we get back to Nuvema Town, I'm taking away your magazines. And we're just friends! Seriously." I said. "Sure, sure, now tell us!" She demanded.

"Ugh, I hate this conversation." I said. "Most couples I know have already gotten to third shake already." Amanita said. "Ew!" I exclaimed in disgust. "Looks like you and Cheren are more similar than you think..." Bianca said.

"Seriously, Bianca. We're just friends. Even though I'm at his house everyday, he cooks me meals, and we're constantly around each other…" I listed off, my eyes growing in realization. "I can kind of see how you'd think that. But you're getting the wrong idea!" I said, denying her claims. Bianca laughed. "Sure, sure. It's impossible, anyway." She said.

"Why is it impossible?" I asked. "'Cause you two are too different! You fight all the time, and you clash on every single thing." She said, giggling at my expense. "For the record, we barely fight when it's just the two of us." I said, sighing as I explained myself. "So you play it up when you're around us and Cheren? That's interesting, hehe!" Bianca said, fully laughing now.

"I never got to ask, but why were you at Hilbert's house so late the other day?" Bianca asked. "Wait, what? How did you find out?" I said, staring at her. "I was taking a stroll the other night to clear my head, when I saw you walk out of Hilbert's house. It was super late at night, too. Nine? Ten?" Bianca guessed. "We were playing video games." I said.

"Until that late at night? Aren't we too old for that kind of thing?" Bianca asked as if she were my mother. "You can never be too old for video games. Plus, that wasn't all we did." I said. "Really? What else did you do?" Bianca asked. "Why are you being so nosey?" I complained. "Just tell me!" Bianca said, poking me in the arm.

"Fine, if you really wanna know… I had dinner at his place, we watched a movie, then played video games together. That's all." I said. "Nothing else? Not a single fight?" Bianca asked, raising an eyebrow at us. "Why would we fight? The food was great, the movie made me want to cry, and it was a co-op game." I said.

Bianca blinked. "I must have misjudged you two. Sorry." She said, lowering her head to me. "Why are you apologizing? It's okay, really." I said, trying to get Bianca to raise her head. "Still, to his house, _alone_ , that late at night? Sounds pretty sus to me!" Amanita said. "I'll show you 'sus'. Come here!" I said, beckoning her over.

Amanita laughed, then sighed. "Relationships aren't all they're hyped up to be, you know. My current boyfriend is honestly kind of a jerk." Amanita said. "Why do you say that?" Bianca asked. "He said he loved me the day he met me, and is constantly trying to get me in bed. Sure, I've eaten better than I ever have my entire life, but I feel like it's coming at a price, you know?" Amanita said, now sighing into Bianca's side.

"Oh, uh… are you not going to break up with him?" Bianca asked. "It's not that simple… the food at Striaton Gym is just so good~" Amanita said. "Okay… just don't do anything you might regret, okay?" Bianca said, ruffling her hair. "Of course I won't!" Amanita triumphantly said.

"What about you, Bianca? Is there anything going on between you and Cheren?" Amanita asked. "Oh, no, nothing at all. We're just really old friends. Besides, even if I wanted to start something, he's just too focused on getting stronger." Bianca said. "Bianca Bell… are you growing feelings for Cheren?" I asked, now staring straight into her eyes. "Maybe a little… but I doubt he feels the same." Bianca admitted.

"Hey, never know until you ask him. What's the harm?" I asked. "There might be a rift in our friendship if I ask him, you know?" Bianca said. I patted Bianca on the head to reassure her. "Trust me, it'll be fine. Does Cheren sound like the kind of person who'd do that?" I asked.

"No, but…" Bianca muttered. "It'll be fine. Trust me!" I said. "Are you sure?" Bianca asked, her eyes looking downwards. "You never know until you try." I said. "Thanks, Hilda… but I think I'll pass. I'm content as things are." Bianca said, smiling wistfully.

I sighed. "If that's what you want. I'll support you either way." I said, moving closer to Bianca and giving her a big hug from the opposite side of Amanita. Amanita joined in, squeezing Bianca tight from the other side. "Hey, you two, it's getting hard to breathe!" Bianca complained, then started giggling.

We eventually unlatched from Bianca and started talking about random stuff until the boys came back.

After a while, we heard the door open. "We're back." I heard Cheren's voice say. "Mm." I heard Hilbert grunt. They both stepped into view and took their seats. Cheren sat on the sofa across from me, while Hilbert sat beside me. He glanced at me then turned to look straight ahead.

"So, did you guys learn anything?" Bianca asked. "Just a basic refresher on status conditions. Hilbert and I read a few books about berries and held items." Cheren said. "'Dr.' Fennel is quite the researcher. Hidden abilities? Dream world?" Hilbert said, emphasizing Fennel's title. "Oh, did you find that book? Fennel's pretty cool, isn't she." Amanita said, puffing her chest out.

"I suppose. Her field of research seems interesting enough." Hilbert said. "I'm glad you find it interesting, because that's kind of why we asked you for help. To help with her research!" Amanita said. "I see. I'm looking forward to it." Hilbert said. "For all of Hilbert's complaints, he truly was engrossed in the lecture and the textbooks. He kept pestering me with questions during the lecture." Cheren said. "That's good to hear. I'm proud of you!" I said, giving Hilbert a bright smile. "It was nothing. I was just curious." Hilbert said.

"How about you guys get some training in? Most trainers that challenge the Striaton Gym tend to train at the Dreamyard east of here." Amanita suggested. I checked the Xtransceiver for the time. "It's 1:30 PM. We have an hour of training, but realistically we only have half an hour. Our Pokémon - and we - need to rest before the battle." Cheren said.

"Incidentally, Hilbert and I talked to some of the trainers in the Trainer's School, and they said that the Striaton Gym is supposed to teach new trainers about type effectiveness. They intentionally use Pokémon that are super effective against our starter Pokémon, but I'm not too sure how that's going to work in Bianca's case." Cheren said, looking at Bianca. "I guess Jolts doesn't have any type weaknesses…" She trailed off.

"They said that the elemental monkeys can be found at the Dreamyard to help against those weaknesses. How about we go look for them?" Cheren suggested. "I'm in. After the last time I was at a type disadvantage, I don't want to take any chances." Hilbert said, glaring at Bianca. She sheepishly laughed. "You still won, though." She pointed out. "Barely." Hilbert said.

"Alright, let's not waste any more time. Let's go over to the Dreamyard." Cheren said. "See you later, guys! I'll be rooting for you." Amanita said. We stood up and left the lab, making our way over to the Dreamyard.


	7. A Ruined Facility

Cheren and I read an article about the Dreamyard at the Trainer's School. " _The Dreamyard is an abandoned facility that once researched the very subject of Fennel's expertise: Dream Mist. It's said that an accident caused it to become the ruins it is today, but that 'accident' was expertly covered up by both the researchers themselves and the government. Official sources state that the accident was a large scale electrical explosion conveniently localized in the research facility, but other, less reputable sources claim otherwise. Only those who worked in the Dreamyard before can say for sure._

_Right now, the Dreamyard has become a habitat for wild Pokémon, not unlike Sea Mauville in the Hoenn region. Both are previously man made structures that were destroyed in an accident, and had become a habitat for wild Pokémon. The Hoenn government officially recognizes Sea Mauville as a nature reserve, but the Unova government has yet to declare the Dreamyard one. For all intents and purposes, it's merely a place where Pokémon make their homes, and where Pokémon trainers train in order to challenge the Striaton Gym._ " I recalled.

"Hilbert?" Hilda asked. "Hm?" I grunted in reply. "You looked like you were lost in thought. Anything wrong?" She asked, gently tugging on my sleeve. "Nothing. Just recalling the history of the Dreamyard." I said. "There was something similar to the Dreamyard in the Hoenn region, right, Hilbert?" Cheren asked.

I nodded. "Sea Mauville. It wasn't too far from where I used to live. I never got a chance to visit, though. It wasn't a place where a seven year old could easily visit." I said. "I suppose. Why was it called Sea Mauville, anyway? Was there a normal Mauville?" Cheren asked.

I nodded. "Mauville City. A city at the center of continental Hoenn, much like Lumiose City in the Kalos region. It's a relatively technologically advanced city, where locals and travelers alike visit. Everyone from Hoenn has been to Mauville City at least once. I have." I explained.

"I see. If we ever get the chance to visit Hoenn, would you mind showing us around?" Cheren asked. "I'll try. The only places I've really been to are Rustboro City, Slateport City and Dewford Town." I said. "Are there beaches there? Can we go swimming?" Bianca asked, suddenly looking excited. "Well, Dewford is an island town, and Slateport is famous for its huge beach." I said.

Stars were practically visible in Bianca's eyes. "That's perfect! We're so going to Hoenn soon. Tour us all around, Hilbert!" She demanded. "Let's focus on our task at hand, first. We're almost at the Dreamyard." I said, now facing straight ahead. We were just about to arrive at the outskirts of the city.

Hilda, who was still holding onto my sleeve, gradually drew closer to me. "Is something the matter?" I asked. "Nothing… just feeling a little scared. I've never been really good with ruins." Hilda said. "Just stay close." I said, looking away from her. "Thanks." She said.

We passed through a small clearing in the forest and entered the Dreamyard proper. " _They called it an abandoned facility. This is more than just an abandoned facility._ " I thought. I stepped back as we walked in front of the abandoned facility. It was certainly huge: it looked to be originally two storeys tall, and from the cracks in the wall I could spot holes that must have led to some basement floors.

I turned around, and through the trees I could see more ruins, blocked off by the sheer thickness of the overgrowth. There was no way we could reach them from outside, so I shelved that information somewhere in my mind. " _What the hell happened here?_ " I wondered.

I could feel Hilda shivering as she held my sleeve. "That bad?" I asked. "Just brings up bad memories. I don't want to talk about it." Hilda said, not meeting my gaze. I extended my left hand out to her. "If it makes you feel any better…" I said, but she immediately took hold of my hand before I could finish. "It will. Let's go inside." Hilda said, now holding onto my hand. " _Cute._ " I thought.

Cheren coughed. "I think we should split up and do some training separate from each other. The Dreamyard seems big enough that we won't have any overlaps. However…" Cheren trailed off, looking at our linked hands. "I'll be going in alone. How about you, Bianca?" Cheren asked.

"I'll go in alone too. Make sure Hilda doesn't feel too afraid, Hilbert." Bianca said, smiling at us. "What am I, a knight in shining armor?" I complained. "At least play the part for now. Hilda will appreciate it." Bianca said. I looked over at Hilda, who was still shivering. "Fine. We'll go in after she gets used to this place." I said.

"See you inside." Cheren said, then went inside the abandoned facility. "Don't take too long, you two!" Bianca said, following Cheren inside.

It was just Hilda and I outside now. She was still shivering and clinging close to my arm. "Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, trying to get her to open up. "I'll be fine. I promise." She said. "Your legs look like they're about to give out. Are you sure you're okay?" I asked again. "No. I'm not. But I need to be, so that I can get stronger." She finally admitted.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then let's not waste any more time than we need to." I said. "Nngh, fine. I'll at least tell you the short version." Hilda said, pulling back at me as I started to step forward.

"Back when I lived in Sinnoh, my dad and I stayed at this place called Eterna City for a few months. There was this creepy abandoned mansion next to it, and I got lost in it once. Nobody believed me, but I swore I saw ghosts there. I don't know how, but my dad eventually found me and brought me home, where we immediately started packing up to move again. There. Happy?" Hilda explained.

"Wait. How are abandoned facilities and haunted mansions even related?" I asked. "You know! People used to stay here, and now they don't. Maybe people died here!" Hilda said, the implication of her words starting to become incredibly obvious.

"Hilda… are you afraid of ghosts?" I asked, dumbfounded. "S-So what if I am?!" Hilda sputtered out. I tried to suppress it, but I ended up falling to my knees, breaking down in laughter. "What's so funny?! You jerk!" Hilda said, now pounding her fists on my back. "Hahahahahaha!" I kept laughing, even through the pain.

I eventually stood back up and wiped the tears from my eyes. Hilda looked absolutely mortified and wouldn't meet my gaze. "We're not friends anymore." Hilda said. "Really?" I asked, calling her bluff. "No. Now tell me, is it funny that I'm afraid of ghosts? Is it? Is it?!" Hilda demanded.

I resisted the urge to laugh again and raised my arms in mock surrender. "It's just that... learning that the normally strong-willed, annoying Hilda that I've known for my entire teenage life is afraid of ghosts was just too much to handle. For the record, Bianca absolutely loves ghosts." I said, wiping away another tear. "It's childhood trauma! Childhood trauma isn't funny!" Hilda said, tears welling up in her eyes.

I wrapped my arms around Hilda and pulled her close. She flinched, but neither hugged back nor tried to break free. "Seriously, you're getting way too physically comfortable with me." She said. "And you aren't?" I shot back. "...Fine, I'll allow it." She said, sighing.

"I'm sorry. I'll treat you to something later as an apology." I said. "I hope you're not too attached to your wallet, because I'm," Hilda said, playfully pointing to herself, "going to ransack it." She finished, closing her eyes and hugging me back. "I wouldn't expect anything less." I said.

We stayed like that for a while and finally broke free. Hilda looked pumped up, her legs no longer shivering. "Look at that. You aren't afraid anymore." I said. "Don't get me wrong. I'm still terrified, but I'm too embarrassed and angry to even let it show. Let's go!" Hilda said. "Still want to hold my hand?" I asked. "I kind of don't want to touch you right now." Hilda said, glaring at me. "Suit yourself. Let's go." I said.

"By the way… I think this is the first time I've seen you laugh that hard." Hilda said. "Was it? I suppose I don't laugh very often." I replied. "I guess. It was nice seeing that side of you." Hilda said, gently extending her hand out to me. "I thought you didn't want to touch me." I said, staring at her extended hand. "Don't look a gift rapidash in the mouth. Take it." She said, averting her gaze from me. I sighed, then smiled and took her hand. "Are we finally ready to go?" I asked. She turned back to me and nodded. We stepped into the abandoned facility, hand in hand.

"Now that I take a closer look, this place is a lot brighter than I'd imagined." Hilda said. It was true: perhaps due to being rocked by an explosion, the facility practically had no roof to speak of. The afternoon sunlight poured in, illuminating the area quite beautifully. " _As beautiful as a decrepit ruin can get, anyway._ " I thought.

I looked around the interior of the facility. Aside from the sunlight pouring in, there was quite the amount of holes in the ground. It seems that whatever caused this place to become a ruin in the first place was indeed quite strong. There were patches of tall grass here and there, deeper into the facility, but it didn't look like there were any wild Pokémon in them. " _Hm?_ " I wondered.

"You know, for a place where trainers and Pokémon are supposed to train, I'm not seeing many trainers. Or Pokémon, for that matter." Hilda said. "Hm." I sounded in reply. I fiddled with the bracelet on my left wrist. " _What's going on here?_ " I wondered. I took a few more steps deeper into the facility, inadvertently dragging Hilda along. "Did you figure something out?" Hilda asked.

"No. But it doesn't hurt to take a look." I said. Hilda nodded, and we went deeper in. "There are holes everywhere. Make sure your grip doesn't falter. Especially with those sweaty palms of yours." I said. "I'm sorry for being sweaty. I'm nervous, okay?" Hilda said. "That being said…" I trailed off, and peered into one of the holes. I nearly felt my stomach leap out of my throat as I did so. "Hey! You might fall in!" Hilda said, pulling me back.

"I didn't see anything. It's pitch black." I said, trying to swallow down my lunch from earlier. "What? Even under the sun?" Hilda asked. "Yes. It's likely that these holes lead to much deeper into the ruins. Let's try not to fall." I said. "Well, your hand is kind of like a vice grip on mine, so if you fall then you're taking me with you." Hilda said, shaking our hands a little. "Want me to just let go? You seem fine." I asked. "No." Hilda curtly said. I stared at her with a blank expression, prompting her to beckon at me to move.

We reached a patch of tall grass. I kneeled down - my left arm raised in the air, as Hilda was still standing - and examined the ground. "Are you checking for tracks again?" Hilda said, perhaps remembering what I did at Route 1. "Yes. It seems that Pokémon were here recently. No sign of them now, though." I said, standing back up. I dusted my knees with my free hand and turned to face Hilda.

"We might be dealing with another released Pokémon situation." I said. "The tracks are fresh and lead deeper into the forest, much like last time." I continued. "So we're going to fight another freakishly strong Pokémon?" Hilda asked, her legs starting to tremble again. "Perhaps. Cheren and Bianca went deeper in, so they might run into it before we do." I said. "How can you be so sure?" Hilda asked. "I'm not. But the fact that we haven't seen anything above ground yet can mean only one of two things." I said.

"It's either the released Pokémon is underground, where I suspect Cheren and Bianca are at… or they're somewhere here, out of sight." I said. I used my free hand to send out Ace from his Pokéball. Ace looked at me, then at Hilda, then back at me. His strong glare met my own. Ace's tail was wagging nevertheless, perhaps waiting for orders. "Ace. Do you smell something off here?" I asked.

Ace started sniffing the ground, and wandered across our immediate vicinity. He shook his head. "It looks like we're not going to be finding anything here. Let's go deeper in." I said, keeping Ace out of his Pokéball. "We're going underground now, right?" Hilda asked. "If there's a way for us to even get underground from here, then sure." I said.

We walked around the ruin, looking for stairs that led underground. To our disappointment, we didn't find any in the immediate area. "Hilbert, it seems like there aren't any stairs that lead underground. There's only one thing left to do." Hilda said. "No, we are not jumping." I said, immediately shutting Hilda down. "I thought it was worth a try." She said, sighing.

"Now that I think about it, we haven't seen Bianca or Cheren anywhere. Where do you think they are?" Hilda asked. "Let me call them." I said, letting go of Hilda's hand to dial Cheren on the Xtransceiver. Hilda stared at her hand with a somewhat disappointed look on her face, but I didn't bring it up.

"Caller is out of reach?" I said, parroting what the Xtransceiver said. "Maybe they found a way downstairs?" Hilda guessed. "There might be." I said. "Hold on, let me call Bianca." Hilda said, dialing Bianca on her Xtransceiver. "Oh, it's ringing!" Hilda said. I walked closer to her and peered over her shoulder, trying to get a good look at the screen. "Getting comfortable, are we?" Hilda deadpanned. "I just want a good look." I said.

Bianca eventually picked up. "Bianca! Where are you?" Hilda asked. "Hilda? Did you guys go in yet?" Bianca asked. "Yeah, we're at the ground floor. Where are you guys?" Hilda asked. "We went downstairs. We spotted a staircase going down from the second floor on the east side. We couldn't figure out a way to get down, so we just jumped." Bianca said.

"You jumped?! Are you okay?" Hilda asked. "Yeah, we're fine! It wasn't a tall drop, anyway. Maybe around three or four of me?" Bianca guessed. "Alright, we're going to head down. By the way, is Cheren with you? Hilbert tried calling him, but he didn't pick up." Hilda asked.

"He's a little deeper in. We're training separately." Bianca asked. "Did you guys run into any wild Pokémon up here?" Hilda asked. "Now that you mention it, no. I guess we did see some tall grass near the edges of the facility, though." Bianca said. "Oh, a wild Pokémon. Catch you guys later!" Bianca said, then hung up.

I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. "So there are wild Pokémon down there. At least we can get some training in." I said. "Alright, let's find that ledge we need to jump off." Hilda said. "Right… we need to jump off a ledge." I hesitantly said. "Hilbert?" Hilda said, looking at me. "It's nothing." I said. "Okay… your hand?" Hilda said, extending her hand out to me. I took her hand and noticed that this time, it was my hand that was starting to sweat. "Urgh, I need to buy some gloves or something." Hilda said. " _Good, she didn't notice…_ " I thought, sighing thankfully.

We walked into the patch of tall grass and noticed that part of the wall was broken down on the right side. "Think this leads somewhere?" Hilda asked. "There's only one way to find out." I said. We stepped through the hole in the wall and found ourselves in a new area.

"The sun's a bit brighter here." Hilda said. I looked up and saw that there was no roof above the area in front of us. " _No, there used to be a roof here. It's just…_ " I thought, looking at where a ceiling very clearly used to be. We stepped forward and saw a staircase to our left. "That must be the way up. Come on, Hilbert." Hilda said, dragging me along. " _Ugh, this isn't going to end well for me._ " I thought, letting myself get dragged along.

We made our way to the second floor. I looked up and noticed there was no trace of anything that used to be above this level. "There must have been a huge ceiling here." Hilda said, looking over to where the ruin proper was. "Perhaps. The 'explosion' must have caved it in, causing it to look like… that." I said. "Why was 'explosion' in air quotes?" Hilda asked. "No reason." I said.

"Anyway, let's check out that place first." Hilda said, pointing to the path west of the staircase. I felt my stomach lurch as I peeked over the edge. "Is this height really supposed to be four Biancas worth?" I asked. "Looks about right to me. Maybe five?" Hilda said. "Urgh." I groaned.

"Come on, let's go! We don't have much time left before the gym opens." Hilda said, pulling me along. "It doesn't close until later. I think we can take our time." I said. "Weren't you the one who told me not to waste any time? Come on, let's go!" Hilda said, now forcefully pulling me over. I gave in and hesitantly walked on the incredibly precarious path across the roof.

"Now that I can take a closer look... " Hilda said, kneeling as she carefully inspected the edge of the path. "It really does look like some sort of explosion happened here." She said. "Doesn't that seem obvious? There's rubble all over the ground floor." I said. "No, that's not it. I've seen some collapsed buildings before, and they usually don't look this… exploded." Hilda said. "Couldn't you have used a better term than exploded?" I asked. "It was the first thing that came to mind." Hilda huffed.

I very hesitantly peeked over and inspected the edge of the path as well. "There's this strange support metal peeking out of the concrete. Doesn't this normally bend over when a building collapses? I asked. "In general. The fact that it's still here must mean that the concrete was blown off somehow. That's just my guess, anyway. I'm not an engineer." Hilda said.

I nodded. "A fair assessment. Were you always able to give these kinds of diagnoses?" I asked. "Well, my dad is an engineer. Was, anyway. Before…" Hilda trailed off. "No, he is an engineer. He was pretty famous around the Sinnoh region, I guess." Hilda continued. "Really. You'll have to tell me more later." I said. "Sure, while you're treating me." Hilda said, smirking at me. "Fine. Let's keep going." Hilda said, gently touching her pendant with her free hand.

We took a left turn and walked across an even thinner path. This time, there was nothing stopping us from falling off either side, unlike the path from earlier. I could feel my stomach violently disagreeing at my current actions. "Ooh, Hilbert, look at that!" Hilda said, running ahead. Unfortunately, she was still holding my hand, so I was dragged along with her. "Slow down! We might fall!" I complained, my stomach really threatening to leave my body.

"Look! It's so beautiful!" Hilda said, finally stopping at the end of the path. She turned back at me and gestured to the scenery: trees as far as the eye can see, and a very faint view of Accumula Town - and even Nuvema Town - in the distance. "We must be pretty high up." I said. "Route 2 was pretty elevated, so it makes sense that we'd be able to see Accumula Town from here." Hilda said.

"The sea is kind of visible, too." I said. It was true: to our left, past the trees, we could see the vast sea from here. There were boats in the distance, perhaps ferrying people or cargo to and from Unova. "Isn't it great?! You love the sea, right?" Hilda cheerily asked. "It's familiar. I suppose I am partial to the sea." I admitted.

"I won't tease you about being afraid of heights, by the way." Hilda said. "Wha- how did you find out?!" I desperately asked. "I didn't, but thanks for confirming." Hilda said, smirking. "Urgh." I groaned. "I had a hunch. You were so obvious, you know?" Hilda said, snickering. "I thought you wouldn't tease me about it." I said. "I was just saying! Jeez." Hilda huffed, crossing her arms.

"Fine. I'm afraid of heights. I admit it." I said. "Good! It turns out this place freaks the both of us out." Hilda said. "I suppose. At least I wasn't a quivering wreck before even going in." I said. "You were nearly about to puke while I dragged you along, weren't you." Hilda deadpanned. "...That obvious?" I asked, sighing. "You were covering your mouth the whole time. That could only mean one thing…" Hilda trailed off. "Fine, you win." I said.

"Still, I didn't think you were scared of anything." Hilda said. "I'm scared of a lot of things. Heights being one of the minor ones." I replied. "Really? You don't show it much." She said. "Just wait…" I said.

"It's always nice to learn new things about you, you know? You don't really talk about yourself much." Hilda said. "Really? Because I feel like I've talked about myself more in the past couple of days than I ever have in my entire life. Especially to you." I said. "I guess. We are friends, right?" Hilda asked, smiling at me. "...Yeah." I said, lowering my cap and turning away from her.

"An embarrassed Hilbert Blake… I'm going to need to take a picture of this one." Hilda said, pulling out her Pokédex. "What? This can't take pictures?!" Hilda loudly complained. "Just buy a camera when we get to a big city." I said, turning back to face her. "But they're so expensive…" Hilda cried, looking dejected.

We stood there for a little longer and chatted before turning back to leave. What I didn't realize back then is that it was neither the trees nor the sea I was staring at the most… but she didn't seem to notice.

* * *

I gently helped Hilbert across the path back across the roof. "Are you sure you're okay? I've never seen you look so green in my entire life." I asked. "This is nothing compared to the boats back in Hoenn… urgh." Hilbert said, retching. "You lied about not getting seasick anymore, didn't you." I asked, sighing. "I may have stretched the truth… went from five vomit bags in one trip to only one." Hilbert said.

I giggled. " _It's cute that he's relying on me. It's the other way around, for once._ " I thought, giggling to myself. "Is my suffering amusing to you?" Hilbert asked. "Only a little." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. "Urgh. Let's call it even." Hilbert offered. "Deal, but you're still treating me." I said.

"Fine, fine. Now let's get down from here before I really do throw up all over you." He said. "Throw up wherever you want, just not on me! These clothes are freshly wa- okay, they aren't." I said. "There should be a laundromat in town. Let's do our laundry tomorrow morning." Hilbert said. "Sure, sure. Now move, bucko!" I said, pulling Hilbert along.

We finally made it back to the top of the stairs. Hilbert was hunched over, his free hand over his mouth. "Do you want to go back and rest?" I said, checking my Xtransceiver. "It's 2 PM. We can always challenge the Gym later." I said. "I'll be fine. This is nothing." Hilbert said, still covering his mouth. "If you say so. Maybe we should buy some peppermint oil at a pharmacy later." I said. "That would be nice." Hilbert said.

Hilbert and I slowly followed the path to the right of the stairs. Unfortunately for Hilbert, this one was a little bit more precarious as the path was even narrower. "I'm going to die. I'm absolutely going to die." Hilbert muttered. "No, you're not. You're going to get through this, even if it kills me." I said, sighing. "Urgh…" Hilbert groaned.

We walked until the path cut off. I peeked over the edge and saw stairs leading underground. "Hilbert! Look over there!" I said, dragging Hilbert to the edge of the path. "Whoa!" He shouted, nearly toppling over. "Careful!" I said, pulling him back before he could fall off. "I would thank you, but it was your fault I nearly fell off the edge." Hilbert said. "You're welcome!" I said, giving Hilbert my brightest smile.

Hilbert simply grumbled. "I'm too sick to deal with this." He said, beneath his breath. "Well, the stairs are over there. It's time to jump, Hilbert." I said, pointing to the stairs. "Do we really have to jump? Can't we just rappel down?" Hilbert moaned. "You're acting like a kid. Buck up!" I said, chastising him.

Hilbert frantically reached into his bag, probably looking for other options. "I'm seeing all sorts of sides of you today, and I'm not sure this is one I ever wanted to see…" I said, sighing with my palm to my face. "I don't care. I just don't want to jump." Hilbert said, still looking for something in his bag. "And I thought I would be the problematic one…" I said. "You thought wrong. Damn it! I only brought the necessities with me." Hilbert said, groaning as he took his hands out of his bag.

"You know what? Let's just jump together." I offered. "Hilda, isn't it a bit too early for us to have a suicide pact?" Hilbert asked, his face now pale as a ghost. "I don't think we should ever have one, but that's not the point! Okay, I'm going to count to three, and then we'll jump." I said, preparing to jump.

Hilbert sighed and slumped his shoulders forwards. "There's no way around this…" He trailed off, preparing to jump as well. ""Okay! On three." I said. I prepared to jump, and Hilbert did as well. Though, our facial expressions were radically different… " _He looks more terrified than I've ever seen him. Maybe I should buy him a gift later?_ " I thought.

"One." I counted. Hilbert's expression was one of pure terror. "Two." I counted. Hilbert's expression was slowly fading into a grim expression, like one that had lost all hope. "Three!" I counted, then jumped. I soared through the air and landed on my feet, bending my knees to have my legs absorb most of the impact. "Whew! That was fun!" I cheered, stretching my body upwards. I looked to my side and expected to see Hilbert beside me, but saw no trace of him.

Immediately realizing what had just happened, I looked back up at the path we - I, rather - just jumped from. Hilbert was still there, frozen in place - his expression straight up devoid of hope. "Hilbert! Get down here!" I shouted at him. "I'll… be right there…" Hilbert muttered. I groaned and held my arms out to him. "I'll catch you. Come on!" I yelled.

Ace, who was still out of his Pokéball, angrily bit Hilbert in the calf. "Ow!" Hilbert shouted, having nearly toppled over the edge. Ace barked at him, probably telling him to get a move on. "I'll do it, I'll do it!" Hilbert said. Ace simply glared at him. "Want me to catch you?" I said. "No, I can do it myself…" Hilbert said.

"One… two… three!" Hilbert counted, then leaped off the platform. The scream he let out would stick with me until the day I died. He was floundering through the air and looked like he wouldn't stick the landing, so I quickly ran up to where he might land and crossed my arms in the shape of an X in front of me, bracing myself for the impact. " _I'm so going to feel this in the morning…_ "

Hilbert crashed into me, sending us both flat on the round. "Urgh…" Hilbert groaned. "Are you okay?" I asked. "Not… particularly." Hilbert said. "Do you want to stay like this? Until you feel better." I asked. "No… I'm good." Hilbert said, then stood up, leaving me on the ground. I got to my feet as well and tried to dust off my back.

"Hilbert, can you swat the dust off my back? I can't see where it is." I asked. Hilbert weakly nodded and went behind me. I could feel his hands weakly patting my back ."Put some muscle into it! The dust won't swat itself off." I commanded. "O-Okay…" Hilbert meekly said, then dusted off the back of my vest with a little more force. "It's gone." Hilbert said.

I turned around him and gave him a crushing embrace. "Ow! Can't… breathe!" Hibert complained. "This is what it felt like when you crashed into me." I whispered into his ear. I let go and watched him gasp for air. "Too… familiar…" He sputtered out. "Hey, if you're doing it to be, then I'm doing it to you." I said, glaring at him.

"Alright, let's go downstairs. You ready?" I asked. "Yeah. I should be fine." Hilbert said. "I'm sorry for that pitiful display." Hilbert said, his head hanging low. "The only thing you should be sorry about was knocking the wind out of my lungs. The rest is going to make an amazing story." I said, playfully sticking my tongue out at him. "Just don't embellish the truth… or at least, embellish it in my favor." Hilbert said, fully dejected now.

"The straightforward, serious Hilbert Blake who constantly teases me having this side of him locked away… ehehe." I giggled. "I think I would have preferred landing flat on my face, instead of on you." Hilbert said. "Hey! You might have died if it weren't for me." I said, pouting while placing my hands on my hips. "Death would have been preferable." He said, the light having completely left his eyes.

Ace leaped down from the platform and headbutted him in the shin. Hilbert collapsed on one knee and cradled his poor shin. "Ow!" He cried in pain. "I think Ace is telling us to get a move on." I said, extended my hand out to him. Hilbert looked up and stared at my hand. He took it in his, and got to his feet. "There might be ghosts down there. Are you ready?" He asked.

I felt my heart sink as he said that. Fortunately, my legs didn't tremble. "You meanie!" I said, angrily tightening my grip on his hand. "Heh. Just wanted to get back at you for earlier." Hilbert said, smirking instead of crying in pain. "Grr… I really will milk you dry." I growled. "Wording, Hilda." Hilbert said. "Whatever. Let's go!" I said, turning and dragging him to the stairs.

Ace followed behind us with an extremely puzzled look, probably not knowing what to make of this situation.

We slowly made our way down the stairs. My legs were slightly trembling now, but I ignored it. There were things we needed to do down here. The afternoon sunlight was just barely seeping in through the holes in the ceiling. " _Those must be the holes we saw on the floor earlier. We must be directly below, now._ " I thought.

If there was any trace of Hilbert's terrified expression earlier, it was gone now. His unflappable, stern glare was back, surveying the surroundings as best as it could. "Bianca and Cheren were definitely here. There are signs of a recent battle." He said. "How can you tell?" I asked. "Look. There's freshly displaced rubble over off the side, and there's some residual electricity hanging in the air." Hilbert said, then pointed to Ace. His fur was fluffed up, looking very uncomfortable.

"I thought that only worked for static electricity?" I said. "Must have been a thunder wave attack. Either way, there definitely was a battle here." Hilbert said. "And speaking of…" Hilbert trailed off, then Ace immediately leaped forward.

A purrloin leaped out from the shadows and swiped at Ace with its claw. Ace took the hit with his torso and rammed his head into the purrloin, knocking it back. "A purrloin?!" I said, my legs trembling again. Hilbert squeezed his grip on my hand, probably telling me to calm down. "This should be good training for Ace. As revenge against the purrloin that invaded his home." Hilbert said. Ace growled, perhaps taunting more purrloin to come at him.

"I won't let you have all the glory. Come on, Smokey!" I said, sending Smokey out of her Pokéball. Smokey looked ready to go. "Is Smokey the only Pokémon you have?" Hilbert asked. "Yeah, but we're trying to find one of the elemental monkeys, right? Soon, Smokey will have a friend." I said. "If we find them at all. They're incredibly rare, after all." Hilbert said.

Two more purrloin leaped out from the shadows of the basement. They swiped at our two Pokémon; Smokey took the hit, while Ace leaped out of the way. Smokey retaliated with a point blank ember, while Ace used the momentum from dodging to slam into the purrloin, knocking it into its friend. The purrloin scampered off from whence they came.

"I'm getting sick of fighting purrloin." I complained. "So am I. But it seems we might need to fight more." Hilbert said. Ace and Smokey looked up at us. "Looks like they wanna keep going. Let's go!" I said, dragging Hilbert along. Ace and Smokey acted as the vanguard, calmly watching for any more wild Pokémon.

"Ugh, this place is a mess. There's broken cabinets everywhere!" I complained, maneuvering around a cabinet that was blocking the path. "This place looks like less of an accident site, and more of a victim of ransacking." Hilbert said. "Seriously. There are crates everywhere, too. What really happened here?" I asked. "I doubt Dr. Fennel would be willing to tell us. And frankly, it's not any of our business." Hilbert said. "I guess." I conceded.

" _Something seems off about this place, though…_ " I thought. "My Xtransceiver's signal is getting weaker. Maybe we're approaching the depths of this area." Hilbert said, his Xtransceiver slightly illuminating the surrounding area. "I'm so buying a flashlight when we get back to the city. And some other exploring supplies." I said. "I need to buy some too. How does tomorrow sound?" Hilbert asked. "Sounds good to me. It's almost like a date!" I said, giggling. "I suppose. It doesn't sound like a very romantic one, though." Hilbert said. "Doesn't need to be romantic. Friends date, right?" I said. "Mm." Hilbert grunted in reply.

Ace's tail suddenly bristled, and Smokey reared her head. Four purrloin emerged from the corner and slashed at our Pokémon with their claws. Ace deftly dodged out of the way and counterattacked with a brutal tackle, while Smokey took the attack on her back and retaliated with another ember at point blank.

The purrloin were knocked back, but immediately regained their footing and charged at Smokey and Ace again. "Smokey! Use ember while turning your head in an arc!" I said. Smokey turned to the left and shot out her flames, then quickly snapped her head to the right. The surrounding area was bathed in embers, causing the purrloin to stagger back. The area was illuminated because of the embers, revealing more purrloin deeper in.

"Do you think the purrloin chose here to migrate?" I asked. Hilbert quickly took his Pokédex out of his bag and turned it on, lighting up his face with the Pokédex screen's blue light. "It says that the Dreamyard is supposed to be home to patrat, as well as munna. We haven't seen any of those species." Hilbert said. "So they did come here. Which means…" "Yes. The liepard from before might very well be here, and may be the reason the patrat and munna were driven out." Hilbert said, his expression grim.

I gulped. "They act fast." I said. "They do. Let's head deeper in." Hilbert said, nodding his head. Smokey and Ace managed to deal with the rest of the purrloin; Smokey kept the purrloin at bay with her embers, while Ace took a more personal approach and slammed into every purrloin he could see. "He seems really upset." I said. "These purrloin drove him out of his home. It's no wonder." Hilbert said.

Hilbert approached our two Pokémon and fed them some Oran berries. "Shoot, I'm running low on those. Do you think the Pokémon center has them in stock?" I asked. "I checked there before Cheren and I went back to the lab. They have Oran berries in stock." Hilbert said. "That's good. I'll have to buy some more." I said, sighing in relief. "Taking a page out of my book?" Hilbert asked, smirking. "It's convenient, okay?" I huffed.

After our Pokémon had their fill, we continued deeper in. Hilbert suddenly stopped moving, causing me to nearly trip over. Smokey and Ace looked back at him in surprise. "Hilbert?" I asked, then Hilbert put his palm over my mouth. "Shush. Listen." Hilbert said. " _Can you stop silencing me like this?_ " I tried to say.

We could vaguely hear the sounds of battle deeper in. A girl's voice was frantically yelling, while a boy's voice was calm and composed. "Is that… Bianca and Cheren?" I asked, prying Hilbert's hand off my mouth. "It sounds like them. It sounds like they're in trouble." Hilbert said. We nodded at our Pokémon, then ran to the source of the voices.

"Bianca! Cheren!" I called out. Bianca was hunched over, breathing heavily. Jolts, who was in front of her, looked exhausted. Cheren's arms were crossed, but his forehead was covered in sweat. Cloak, his purrloin, looked ready to drop at any moment.

"Hilda? Hilbert?" Bianca said, suddenly standing up straight. "We're here to help!" I said, Smokey taking a fighting stance in front of me. "Thank you… we're going to need it." Bianca said, then looked straight ahead. It was then that I saw the monster they were fighting.

A Pokémon that stood just over a meter and a half tall. Its body was scaly and thick, jagged spikes covered its arms and tails. The claws on its hands and feet were an ivory white, looking ready to eviscerate anything that it came across. The scariest part, however, was its head; it was colored blood-red, and it was jagged enough to look like it could destroy anything in its path. Its sharp, yellow eyes stared into my very soul, threatening to remove it from my body.

Hilbert took his Pokédex out and scanned it. "Druddigon. The Cave Pokémon." He recited. A druddigon had found its way to the Dreamyard, and it was about to wipe the floor with Bianca and Cheren.

"Our attacks aren't doing anything against it! We've been trying to attack it for ages now, but it's shrugging everything we throw at it off!" Cheren said as Cloak barely dodged a slash from the druddigon. "How heavy are its attacks?!" Hilbert frantically asked. "Druddigon are known for being extremely powerful. This one is giving us a hell of a time!" Cheren said. "Jolts took a single hit and is pretty much done, now. I think the least she can do to contribute is fire off one more attack!" Bianca said.

Hilbert closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "So we can't afford to take a single hit, and our attacks do nothing to it? The odds seem incredibly stacked against our favor." Hilbert said. "Only slightly. Do you have a plan?" Cheren asked. "Let me think. What plan can we do that lets us survive this?" Hilbert said. "Wait… survive?" He trailed off. He opened his eyes and took a good look at each of our Pokémon. "Looks like you have a plan." I said. "It's the best I can come up with in this situation. Everyone, listen carefully." Hilbert said, turning his gaze towards Cheren.

"Cheren, it's time to put what we learned in the Trainer's School to good use." Hilbert said. "Status ailments?" He asked. "Yes. Bianca, use Jolts' thunder wave attack to paralyze it!" Hilbert said to Bianca. "G-Got it! Jolts, paralyze it with a thunder wave!" Bianca said.

A weak field of electricity manifested around Jolts and shot into the druddigon. It roared in response, electricity now visibly coursing across its body. Jolts fell weakly to the floor, unable to fight. "Thanks, Jolts!" Bianca said, returning Jolts to her Pokéball. "It's paralyzed. I don't think we have anyone that can inflict confusion, though." Cheren said.

Hilbert closed his eyes. "Cheren. Blind it. Bianca, you're with me. Coco and Ace will disarm it with baby-doll eyes. Hilda, pressure it with ember." Hilbert said, giving us all our orders. "I don't like the feeling of being bossed around by you, but your strategy is a solid one. We can't win this through brute force alone, so let's turn the tides in our favor!" Cheren said, now glaring at the druddigon.

"I'll start. Cloak, kick some sand into its eyes! Make sure it can't land a single hit!" Cheren said. Cloak quickly ran up to the druddigon and used its paws to kick some dirt into the druddigon's eyes, blinding it. The druddigon roared, bringing its claws to its eyes to try and bring the dirt out.

"Ace, run up to it and use your baby-doll eyes!" "Coco, do what you do best! Baby-doll eyes!" Bianca and Hilbert commanded. Their lillipup ran up to the druddigon and stared at it with what I assume are the most adorable eyes possible. The druddigon, having managed to open its eyes a little bit, staggered backwards at the intense gazes of the two lillipup.

"Smokey! Provide cover fire with embers!" I commanded. Smokey took position behind some rubble and poked her head out, firing her embers at the druddigon. The druddigon, probably due to how strong it was, didn't visibly react to the attack. "It's not working!" I said. "Keep at it! Wear it down!" Hilbert said. I nodded to Smokey and she kept firing off her embers.

Cloak had kicked up an entire beach's worth of sand in the druddigon's face at the point, whereas Ace and Coco had charmed their way into the druddigon's very heart. The druddigon was finding it extremely difficult to attack now, having been blinded and paralyzed. Any rogue attack that did connect did barely any damage, often bouncing off Ace's or Coco's fur. Smokey was still providing cover fire, chipping away at the druddigon's stamina.

"Because it's a dragon type, fire attacks won't do much damage to it." Cheren said. "Let's switch gears and hit it with our normal type attacks!" Cheren continued. Hilbert nodded. "You heard him. Ace, tackle it!" Bianca looked to Coco. "Follow Ace's lead, Coco! Ram into it with all you've got!" Bianca said. "You too, Smokey! Don't let them show you up!" I said. Smokey leaped out from behind her cover and charged at the druddigon.

Our four Pokémon slammed into the druddigon full force, causing it to stagger back. What we didn't expect, however, was our own Pokémon staggering back in pain as well. Hilbert looked dumbfounded. "What?!" He cried. "Argh, I forgot! Some druddigon have the ability Rough Skin! Touching it is going to hurt them!" Cheren said. "You didn't figure that out earlier?!" I shouted. "Cloak was too busy not getting hit to attack! Jolts was doing all the attacking earlier!" Cheren explained.

The druddigon must have noticed the break in our formation and viciously swung its tail across our Pokémon, knocking them back even further. "No!" Hilbert cried. "Was that the breaking swipe attack? That's not good. Our Pokémon's offenses have been lowered!" Cheren said.

The druddigon tried to move forward for a follow-up attack, but was stopped by its paralysis. "If our offenses are lowered, then we have to lower its defenses!" Hilbert said. "Bianca, you're with me again. Ace, use your leer!" Hilbert said. "You too, Coco! Leer at it!" Bianca followed up. Ace and Coco ran up to the druddigon and, instead of looking at it with adorable baby-doll eyes, glared at it with a powerful, intimidating leer. The druddigon slowly staggered back at the sight of the two lillipup.

"Keep going! Make sure it's too afraid to even fight back!" Hilbert said. "There's really something to be said about a powerful druddigon getting intimidated by two lillipup." I said, sighing. "Ahaha, let's not think about it too hard…" Bianca said, awkwardly laughing.

"I really don't want you guys to have to suffer for our sakes, but this looks like our only option." Hilbert said. Ace looked incredulously at him. He beckoned Ace over and fed him some Oran berries. "Since its defenses are as low as they can be, let's try to finish it off in as few attacks as possible so that you don't have to get hurt as much. Does that sound good?" Hilbert asked Ace. He barked in agreement.

I called Smokey back too, and fed her Oran berries to restore her health. "This might hurt a little, Smokey. Are you okay with it?" I asked. Smokey affectionately rubbed her snout against my palm. "Looks like you are. Okay, let's go!" I said, putting my hands to my hips.

Our Pokémon were standing in front of the dazed druddigon, looking ready to attack. "Now! Ace, use tackle!" "Smokey, tackle it with all you've got!" "Go, Coco! Use tackle!" "Cloak, have your revenge! Use scratch!" We commanded in unison. Our Pokémon unleashed their attacks onto the druddigon, attacking it with all they had. A single attack from each of them wasn't enough to do it in, so they viciously kept attacking. The druddigon, unable to withstand any more attacks, fell to the ground.

Our Pokémon fell as well, having been severely injured by the druddigon's scales. I fell to my knees, exhausted. "We did it…?" Bianca said, having collapsed against the wall. "The druddigon doesn't look like it's going to be able to fight anymore. It's safe to say that we did it." Hilbert said, taking a deep breath.

One by one, we recalled our fainted Pokémon to their Pokéballs. "I don't have any reception from down here." Hilbert said as he looked through his Xtransceiver. "Are you calling Claude?" I asked, sidling up to him. "Yeah. This seems like a situation he should handle." Hilbert said.

"Guys! Look over here!" Bianca's voice rang out from deeper in. " _What's she doing over there?_ " I wondered. The three of us made our way past the now-fainted druddigon and approached Bianca. There was a huge pile of crates blocking the path forward, but there seemed to be just enough space near the wall on the opposite end for someone to pass through.

We slipped through the opening and found Bianca. There was light pouring in through a hole in the ceiling, revealing what she was staring at. "Hm?!" Hilbert exclaimed in surprise.

There they were. Four Pokémon huddled together, terrified for their lives. Three of them were hugging each other, all bearing pained and scared expressions, while the fourth was cowering in the corner opposite them.

"The elemental monkeys?!" Cheren exclaimed, startling the cowering Pokémon. The pansage was clearly very afraid, and it showed on its expression. It was clinging to the pansear's side. The panpour was cowering behind the pansear, its eyes closed. The pansear was standing in front of the both of them, agitated, but looking ready to fight at any time.

"What are they doing here…?" I asked nobody in particular. "There's still another one over here!" Bianca said, rushing over to the Pokémon in the corner. I turned my gaze towards her and saw a ball-like, pink Pokémon with a floral pattern adorning its body. "A munna?" I said. The munna seemed to be the most afraid of the four, clinging desperately to its corner. Though none of us could speak Pokémon, the message that it was trying to send with its eyes was all to clear. " _It wants us to help it._ " I thought.

Hilbert gently approached the monkey trio. The pansage recoiled at his sudden appearance, prompting the pansear to grit its teeth and angrily wave its hands in the air. The panpour was still hiding behind the pansear, cowering in fear. Hilbert took a handkerchief out from his bag and placed it on the floor. The pansear looked at it suspiciously, still waving its hands in the air.

Hilbert took a handful of Oran berries out of his bag and gently placed them on the handkerchief. The pansear lowered its arms and stared at the pile of berries. Hilbert simply walked away and stood beside me, carefully watching the trio of monkeys. The pansear gestured at the panpour to cower behind the pansage instead, and tentatively walked towards the berries.

"Go on." Hilbert said. The pansear eyed Hilbert suspiciously, and took a berry from the pile. The pansear brought it to its nose and sniffed it, probably testing for any funny business. Noticing that the Oran berry wasn't messed with, the pansear brought it to its mouth and chewed on it, swallowing after it had its fill of the taste.

The pansear looked back to the other two monkeys and nodded. They still looked afraid, though, so the pansear brought two berries from the pile and placed it in their hands. The pansage was still afraid, and stared at the berry with a frightened expression. "Eat up! It won't hurt you." I said. The pansage must have heard me, and slowly brought the Oran berry to its mouth. The frightened expression disappeared almost immediately, instead being replaced by a curious, yet grateful one.

The pansear was still trying to offer the panpour the berry, but it refused to take it. "It's good for you. Trust us." Cheren said. Upon hearing his words, the panpour opened its eyes and took the berry from the pansear's hands, then bit into it. The berry's juices spilled all over the panpour's hands, who then licked it up. It closed its eyes again, looking content.

Over by the corner, Bianca was tending to the munna. She gently sprayed a potion over the munna's body, healing its wounds. The munna looked at her in confusion. "It's okay, we're here to help. Are you still hurt?" Bianca asked. The munna shook its body. "That's good to hear." Bianca said, giving the munna a bright smile.

"Phew, it seems like they're alright. Let's get out of here before we run into any more trouble." Cheren said. He walked over to the opening between the crates and the wall and immediately ran back inside. "Is something wrong?" I asked. "We've got company." Cheren said, now looking panicked.

I approached the opening and peeked my head over from behind the crates. There, I saw the Pokémon I hoped I'd never see again. "The liepard…?!" I said, covering my mouth as a gasp nearly escaped my lips. I peeked back over and took a good look at its expression. It looked amused; satisfied, even.

My fear quickly turned into anger at the liepard's expression. "Call me crazy, but I think it was using us to do its dirty work. Hiding in the shadows, watching us take out the Pokémon that was terrorizing it's 'new home'..." I said. "Not to stereotype, but it seems very typical of a liepard." Cheren said. " _Wait, didn't you catch a purrloin?_ " I thought, glancing over at Cheren.

"What do we do? Our Pokémon are all knocked out…" Bianca said. "We have to run. No, you all have to run. Blade can still fight. We'll hold it off while you guys make your escape." Hilbert said. "Don't count me out. Crown is injured, but he can still fight." Cheren said, reaching for Crown's Pokéball.

I vehemently shook my head. "No! I'm staying here, whether you like it or not." I said, grasping onto Hilbert's arm. "I need you to call Claude." He said as he turned his Xtransceiver on. "I can't get any reception down here. Claude should still be in the area, so try and find him!" Hilbert said.

"No! I'll heal Smokey up, so please, let me fight!" I pleaded. "You'll only be a burden!" Hilbert said, then quickly covered his mouth at his own words. "A burden…?" I trailed off. " _He called me a burden. Even though he said he'd never thought I was a burden, and said he'd never think I was a burden_ " I thought. I let go of his sleeve, and my arms slumped uselessly beside me. "...I see. I'll call Claude." I said, my voice monotone.

"Hilda, I'm sorry-" "No. This is the least I can do." I said. " _I just want to get away from here._ " The dark thoughts swirled around in my mind. "You don't want me to be a burden, right?" I continued. "Guys, now's not the time! Bianca, you run ahead and call Claude. Hilda can stay back here and observe the situation!" Cheren said. "No, Cheren. I'll go with Bianca." I said.

Noticing the situation, the monkey trio and the munna all came up to us. The pansear stood in front of Hilbert. The panpour stood in front of Cheren. The munna floated in front of Bianca. Lastly, the pansage stood in front of me. All of them looked determined and ready to fight. "...It seems like they're willing to lend us their strength." Cheren said.

"Change of plans. Hilda, Bianca, you're fighting with us." Hilbert said. "Is it because I won't be a burden anymore?" I asked, still despondent. "I-I…" Hilbert trailed off. The pansear slapped Hilbert across the shin. "Ow! I get it, just fight with me, okay?" Hilbert said through the pain. " _I won't be a burden…_ " I thought.

The liepard looked impatient, and angrily growled at us. The four of us went through the opening and showed ourselves to the liepard. The monkeys - and munna - were in front of us, looking ready to fight. The liepard, probably not expecting to have been outnumbered like that, growled in fury.

Hilbert checked his Pokédex. "Pansear. Male. Gluttony as its ability. Rash natured, and highly curious." Hilbert recited. "I'll move first. Pansear, use your incinerate attack on the liepard!" Hilbert said. Pansear breathed in and unleashed a wave of scorching hot flames on the liepard, landing a clean it on it.

I checked my Pokédex as well. "Pansage, female, Gluttony, timid, quick to flee." I recited off. I looked down at Pansage and nodded at her. "Pansage! Attack it with a vine whip!" I commanded. Pansage ran to the liepard, then turned around. Her tail started to massively grow in length, then she harshly brought it down, slamming the liepard where Pansear burned it.

Cheren looked up from his Pokédex. "Panpour, use your water gun attack!" He said. Panpour breathed in and shot out a powerful water gun towards the liepard, hitting it in the same spot. The liepard yowled in pain, clearly not having expected any resistance from us.

"G-Guys, I have some bad news! Nothing Munna can do can affect the liepard!" Bianca said. "It's okay. Just heal our Pokémon when they get injured!" Cheren said. " _So I could have done that…?_ " I thought. The liepard growled and charged at Pansage, angrily slashing at her. Pansage took the hit head-on and staggered backwards, clearly hurting.

"Grr…" I growled. "Don't take it lying down! Smack it with another vine whip!" I said. Pansage whipped its tail onto the liepard's body full force, causing it to yowl in both pain and frustration. "Come back to Bianca for healing!" I said. Pansage leaped back and dashed towards Bianca, who was ready with a potion.

Cheren and Hilbert nodded at each other. "Panpour, slam it with a water gun!" "Pansear, burn it with incinerate!" They shouted. Their Pokémon attacked immediately, the water gun nearly evaporating due to the intense heat of Pansear's attack. The attacks found their mark, causing the liepard to hang its head in pain.

"It's almost done for. Ready, you two?" Hilbert asked. "Yes." ...Yes." Cheren and I replied. Hilbert raised an eyebrow at me, but I didn't meet his gaze. "Let's use our strongest attacks to finish it off." Hilbert said.

Our Pokémon readied themselves for the last attack. "Panpour, use your strongest water gun!" "Pansear, incinerate it!" "Pansage, finish it off with a vine whip attack!" We said in unison.

Panpour was up first, blasting the liepard with the strongest water gun I'd ever seen. Pansear followed up, immediately evaporating the water and igniting the liepard's fur. Pansage went in for the kill, and brought its tail down where the water gun and incinerate attacks had hurt the most.

The liepard roared in pain then collapsed to the ground, defeated. Bianca cheered in victory, whereas Cheren simply breathed a sigh of relief. Hilbert approached me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Hey-" He said, but I cut him off by taking his hand off my shoulder. "You hurt me, you know." I said.

"I'm sorry. I called you a burden in the heat of the moment." Hilbert said. "...At least you admitted it. I thought you said I'd never be a burden." I said, still not meeting his gaze. "Smokey was too tired to battle, and you had no other Pokémon. Running to find Claude was the best thing you could have d-" "I couldn't have helped heal the Pokémon, like Bianca just did?" I asked. "...I didn't think of that. I'm sorry. Really." Hilbert said, his head hanging low.

" _He's just trying to make you feel better. He doesn't really mean what he said._ " The dark thoughts swirled around in my mind, once more. I shook my head. " _No! Hilbert always means what he says. That's just who he is._ " I countered back. " _Maybe he's lying. You can't trust him._ " They swirled around again. " _No. I can! I need to!_ " I tried to counter.

"Hilda?" Hilbert asked, his head still lowered. "Hilbert, did you honestly think I would be a burden?" I asked. "...Yes. I thought the best thing for you to do would be to run to town and find Claude." He said. "Arceus, I hate your honesty sometimes." I said, sighing. "I don't see how lying through my teeth is going to fix things." Hilbert said. "Good, because it won't." I said.

"Now that I think about it more, I guess I really would have been a burden to you. And I'm sorry for acting that way." I said. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I was out of line." Hilbert said. "No, no. You were just trying to think of what's best for all of us, and I might have overreacted…" I said, realizing how emotional I'd been. " _Even though it still hurts."_ I thought.

Hilbert placed his hand on my shoulder again, but this time I didn't pull it away. "I'm sorry, Hilda. For calling you a burden. I mean it." He said, staring into my eyes. I returned his gaze and placed my hand over his. " _Just let it happen. It's okay. You're not a burden. He was just upset._ " I thought, pushing back the dark thoughts that tried to assault me. "It's okay. I forgive you. I'm sorry for acting like such a brat, too." I said, tears welling up in my eyes.

Unfortunately, two people and four Pokémon were watching us. Cheren cleared his throat, bringing us back down to the real world. I removed my hand from Hilbert's and he removed his from my shoulder.

"You two resolved that surprisingly fast." Cheren said. "Mhm. Nothing like in those dramas mom likes to watch." Bianca said. "I suppose they always are honest with each other. Whether for better or for worse." Cheren said. I balled my fists in rage and glared at Cheren. "Can you stop commentating on us like it's a spectator sport?!" I said. Cheren and Bianca laughed, and I could hear Hilbert let out a small chuckle.

"Guys, what's that…?" Bianca said, pointing to where we had originally come from before fighting the druddigon. "Musha…" A voice echoed throughout the hall. The owner of the voice came into view, revealing it to be a Pokémon that looked a lot like Munna.

Cheren recognized it instantly. "A musharna!" He said. The musharna floated over to Bianca and Munna. Munna floated over to the musharna and rubbed its body affectionately on the bigger Pokémon. Bianca looked relieved. "I'm glad you found your mother…" She said. "Or father, I guess." She quickly added. Munna looked over at her and gave her a bright smile with her eyes.

The musharna opened its eyes at Bianca, nodding its body. "Are you… thanking me?" Bianca asked. The musharna nodded its body once more, this time with Munna joining in. "It's nothing at all, really! I'm just glad Munna is safe!" Bianca said. Munna looked grateful to Bianca and affectionately rubbed its body against her head, causing Bianca to giggle.

Munna returned to musharna and the two floated away, disappearing out of sight. Cheren patted Bianca on the back. "You made those two really happy. I'm proud of you." He said. "Cheren…" She trailed off, tears welling up in her eyes.

I looked down at Pansage. "How about you? Do you want to go back into the wild?" I asked. Pansage shook her head and held her hands out to me. "Do you want to join my team?" I asked. Pansage nodded her head. I took a Pokéball out and tapped Pansage's forehead with it, causing her to dissipate into a bright, red light. The Pokéball shook in my hands three times, then stopped.

"You have two Pokémon now. I'm proud of you." Hilbert said. "At least this time I won't be a burden to you if Smokey's too tired to fight…" I trailed off. "Are you still bringing that up?" Hilbert asked. "It still hurts." I said, pouting at him.

Pansear was tapping his hands on Hilbert's shin, trying to get his attention. "You too?" He asked. Pansear nodded and took a Pokéball out from Hilbert's bag. "Excited, aren't we. Alright. Let me do the honors." Hilbert said. He took the Pokéball from Pansear and pressed it against his forehead, causing him to disappear into the Pokéball. Much like with Pansage, it shook three times, then stopped.

"Welcome to the team, Pansear." Hilbert said, sending Pansear out from his Pokéball. "Or rather, I should nickname you something. How does Torch sound?" He asked. Pansear - Torch - nodded his head in approval. "That's that, then. Welcome to the team, Torch." Hilbert said, extending his arm out to Torch. Torch shook his hand.

I sent Pansage out from her Pokéball as well. "Welcome to the team, Pansage." I said. Pansage still looked frightened, but gave me a smile. "I'm naming you Willow. Is that alright?" I asked. The fear from Willow's expression disappeared entirely as she gave me the brightest smile I'd seen from her today.

Cheren was off on the other side with Bianca, having done the same with Panpour. He named her Lake.

"Alright. Let's head back into the city so we can call Claude. This druddigon shouldn't be left in a place like this." Hilbert said, looking down at the druddigon. It was still paralyzed, blinded and severely weakened, so it shouldn't be much of a threat until it recovers. "Agreed. Let's head back to the city." Cheren said. He returned Lake to her Pokéball and started walking. "Wait for me!" Bianca said, trailing closely behind him.

Hilbert sighed. "This is too much excitement for one day." He said. "Really? I'm feeling just fine." I said. "I wish I had your stamina." Hilbert said. "I think I'm pretty normal." I said. Hilbert stared at me. "You're describing yourself as normal…?" He asked. "What's that supposed to mean?!" I said, lightly pounding my fists into his chest. "Ow! Sorry, just joking." He said, weathering my attacks.

"I'm still mad at you, you know. How could you forget what you said so quickly?" I said, pouting. "I said I was sorry." Hilbert said, sounding dejected again. "It's fine, it's fine. Dagger thrust into my heart aside, it's fine." I said, snickering at him. "That doesn't sound fine!" He said. "Trust me, it is. I'm raiding your wallet extra hard tonight as punishment." I said, gently placing my hand over his pocket.

"Fine, fine. Anything to make you feel better." Hilbert said. "You're only doing this to make me feel better?" I asked in mock surprise. "Ugh, you know what I mean! Arceus, it's as if I didn't even hurt you earlier." Hilbert complained. "Seeing you so flustered is already helping me heal. Ehehe." I said, giggling. I extended my hand towards him, and he wordlessly took it in his.

"Let's get out of here. Before you mess up even more." I said. "Urgh…" Hilbert groaned. Willow and Torch were still by our feet, raising their eyebrows at us. They silently followed behind us as we left the Dreamyard.

* * *

Hilda and I met up with Claude at the Pokémon center. Cheren and Bianca went back to the lab to report to Amanita. "Another wild Pokémon?" He asked. I nodded. "Not only that, but the liepard from earlier tried to settle in the basement of the Dreamyard and attacked us after we defeated the druddigon. I was thinking you could have a look." I said.

"Brenda's already on it. She dropped in shortly after you left, and should be checking out the Dreamyard as we speak." Claude said. "Yeah. We ran into her and explained the situation." Hilda explained. "Good, that takes care of that. Did you find anything else?" Claude asked.

I sent Torch out from his Pokéball. He looked at Claude inquisitively, perhaps sizing him up. Hilda did the same with Willow, only she cowered in fear at the sight of the Pokémon ranger. "We found these two hiding in the depths of the Dreamyard, past the druddigon. There was a panpour as well that joined Cheren." I said. "Yeah, and there was a munna hiding back there, too. I think it just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." Hilda guessed.

Claude pensively closed his eyes and leaned back on his seat. "Were they the ones who defeated the liepard?" He asked. "Yes. Our other Pokémon were exhausted, so we were lucky that they stepped up to the plate." I said. "Hold on… let me check something." Claude said, then brought out a strange device that looked like an amulet.

He brought the device to Willow's head, and then to Torch's. "Just as I thought." Claude said. "What is that device?" I asked. "This is a device that lets you check your Pokémon's effort values. It's standard issue to all Pokémon rangers to check if a Pokémon was under the ownership of a trainer or not." He said.

"Effort values?" Hilda asked, placing a finger to her chin. "Trainer-owned Pokémon gain effort values in addition to experience whenever they defeat another Pokémon, wild or trainer owned. They directly influence how strong their stats can grow. For example, if Willow here were to be defeated in battle by a trainer owned Pokémon, that Pokémon would get an effort value in speed." Claude explained. "So far, we've only seen cases of trainer-owned Pokémon gaining effort values. We're not really sure why wild Pokémon don't get them, but I'm not complaining!" Claude continued, laughing at the end.

"Do you think we could buy one?" Hilda asked. "Yeah, they should be in department stores all across Unova. They're pretty pricey though. I think they go for thirty thousand Pokédollars per unit." He said. Hilda's face fell. "We're having money problems enough as it is…" She said, pouting.

"So were Willow and Torch owned by trainers before?" I asked. "Yes. I'm getting an unusual amount of effort values from them, considering the only thing they've fought under your ownership was a liepard." Claude said, then returned the amulet to his bag. "So they were released by their original trainer…" Hilda trailed off. Willow sadly nodded in response, and Torch just looked angry.

"Hey." I heard Cheren's voice come from behind me. Cheren and Bianca took their seats near us. "Hello, Claude. Nice to see you again." Cheren said. "Hi!" Bianca followed up. "Bianca! Cheren! Nice to see you two again. You guys taking on Striaton Gym?" Claude asked. "That's actually why we came here. Hilda, Hilbert, if it's alright with you two, Bianca and I are going to challenge the Striaton Gym first." Cheren said.

"That's fine with me, but why the consideration?" Hilda asked. "We just figured that you two need a break from all that's happened today. It's still 3 PM." Cheren said. I checked my Xtransceiver and saw that it really was still 3 PM. "I suppose I do need a break." I said. "I'm still good to go!" Hilda chirped.

"Hilda, please just rest. For your own sake." Bianca said, trying to get Hilda to rest. "Or, at least, watch over Hilbert so that he doesn't go charging back into Nuvema Town and ripping Professor Juniper a new one." Cheren said, sighing. "Good point. I'll stay with Hilbert." Hilda conceded.

"Alright, I'll head to the Dreamyard. Good luck, you guys!" Claude said, then left the Pokémon center. Cheren and Bianca had their Pokémon healed then followed after him. Hilda and I walked up to the nurse and had our Pokémon healed, then rented a room for four.

Hilda made our way into the room, noticing that it was an exact replica of our room in Accumula Town. "It's not a bad design, but…" I trailed off. "Yeah. It's a little unnerving." Hilda said.

I took off my jacket, revealing the black muscle shirt I'd been wearing underneath. My cap was next to go, which I set on the table. Lastly, I took my pants off and slipped into some comfortable, dark gray pajama pants. I took off my Xtransceiver, but left my bracelet on. I'd immediately realized that I changed my clothes in front of her. "Uh… I'm sorry." I said. "It's fine, I was enjoying the scenery anyway." She said, sticking her tongue out at me.

Hilda went into the bathroom to change, then walked out wearing a white crop top and cream-colored leggings. Her hair was undone, covering her shoulders. She set her cap besides mine and took a seat on the chair. Her pendant was resting squarely on her chest, shining in the afternoon light. "Your hair is really long." I said. "Yeah, but it's honestly a pain to manage sometimes. I'm thinking of getting a haircut soon." Hilda said.

"That would be a shame. I like your hairstyle." I said. "What, just because you like it means that I'm suddenly not going to get a haircut?" Hilda said. "No, that's not what I-" "Just kidding. If you like it so much, then I'll keep it, just for you. Ehe." Hilda said. "You damn tease…" I said. "Really? You're calling me a tease? Pot calling the kettle black, much?" Hilda said, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed." I said, then climbed up to my bunk. I set my head on the pillow and began to drift off, exhausted from the day's events. I felt the bed frame shake as I tried to sleep, and felt a presence beside me. I opened my eyes to see what it was, and found myself staring into Hilda's eyes. "I'm trying to sleep." I complained. "So am I. Just close your eyes." Hilda said, sticking her tongue out at me.

"Whatever. It's just like whenever you sleep over, anyway." I said, rolling over to the other side. "Standard bed rules apply?" She asked. "We don't have a pillow separating us, so don't roll over to my end, okay?" I said from my end of the bed. "Fine. You know how much I move when I sleep, though." Hilda said. "Then I'll have to brace myself for the worst." I said, sighing.

"Good night, Hilda." I said. "Good night!" Hilda replied. After a while, her breathing was replaced by light snoring, signaling that she'd already fallen asleep. I felt myself drift off to sleep as well.


	8. The First Trial

"Nngh…" I groaned. " _What happened…? Did I fall asleep…?_ " I wondered. My eyes still closed, I tried to recall what happened earlier. " _Oh, that's right… Bianca and Cheren told Hilbert and I to go take a break, and…_ " I recalled, then opened my eyes. My head was still resting on Hilbert's chest. I could hear his heartbeat, and my head was carried up and down by the rise and fall of his chest.

" _Oh, crap! I broke our bed rule!_ " I thought. " _Oh Arceus, he's going to kill me._ " I panicked. I tried to move my arms, but I found them wrapped around his stomach.. " _He's so warm…_ " I thought. Even my legs were wrapped around one of his own. " _I'm practically clinging to him…_ " I realized. My long hair was draped around his face, making me wonder if he was actually still alive.

I couldn't check my Xtransceiver for the time, so I decided to close my eyes and try to go back to sleep. " _It can't be that late… right?_ " I thought. Hilbert's gentle snoring was almost adorable, if it didn't scare the hell out of me when it went from gentle to unbelievably loud. I closed my eyes again, trying to go back to sleep. " _I could get used to this…_ " I thought before falling asleep again.

The next time I woke up, it was because I heard the door to our room opening. " _Is someone here?_ " I wondered. It was probably Bianca, so I just tried to go back to sleep. "Cheren? Hilda's not in her bed." Bianca said.

"I'm assuming we're taking the same beds, correct?" Cheren asked.

"Yeah. Hilda's things are here, but she's not…" Bianca said.

"Hold on, let me check on Hilbert." Cheren said. " _Oh, crap. I better hide!_ " I thought. I was lucky that there was a blanket covering us, so I quickly moved my head off of Hilbert's chest, took my hair out of his face and tried to lay flat on the bed, making sure the blanket completely covered my body. " _Crap, I can't get my arms and legs off…_ " I thought, panicking, but then I felt the bed frame shake.

"Yeah, Hilbert's here. Out like a light." Cheren said, sounding convinced.

"Are you going to wake him up? The Striation Gym's going to close soon." Bianca said.

Cheren sighed. "I'm going to. Urgh, waking up Hilbert's always been an exercise in futility." He said.

" _I know how that feels._ "

"Hilbert." Cheren said. Hilbert replied with a snore. "Hilbert!" Cheren said, his voice growing louder. Hilbert still snored. "Oh, for the love of… HILBERT!" Cheren said, then ripped the blanket off Hilbert. Unfortunately, that revealed…

Cheren said nothing. My eyes were still closed so I tried to act like I was asleep. " _Oh, Arceus…_ " I thought.

"Bianca." Cheren said.

"Yeah?" Bianca said back. I heard her walking over to the foot of the ladder.

"I think I found Hilda." Cheren said, sighing deeply.

"Really? Where is she?"

The bed frame shook again, which means that Cheren probably went down. "Take a look for yourself." Cheren said.

"I don't like this implication…" Bianca muttered. The bed frame shook once more, this time Bianca climbing up the ladder. As soon as it stopped shaking, I heard Bianca gasp. "Oh, my…" Bianca murmured.

"Should we wake them up?" Cheren asked.

"We need to, or they won't be able to challenge the Gym. Hilda's always been a light sleeper, so maybe I'll just…" Bianca trailed off. I immediately knew what was coming, and braced myself for it.

" _Sorry, Hilbert…_ "

"Hyah!" Bianca cried out, then started tickling my feet. I shot up with a start, unable to control my laughter. "Ahahaha! Hahaha! Bianca, stop!" I cried out, accidentally squeezing Hilbert's stomach way too hard.

Hilbert's eyes suddenly opened, his face contorted in pain. "Ow! Argh! Oh, Arceus, my stomach!" Hilbert cried, even louder than I did.

"Cheren, they're awake!" Bianca said, then stopped tickling my feet.

"Yeah. I could hear it from here." Cheren said, sighing.

I puffed my cheeks. "What was that for?!" I complained to Bianca.

"I tried to wake you up, of course!" Bianca said, playfully sticking her tongue out.

"Oh, I'm so going to get my revenge…" I said, growling.

Bianca suddenly looked like a deerling in the headlights. "Eep!" She shrieked. " _Sleep with one eye open, you blonde airhead…_ " I thought, glaring at Bianca. She flinched and quickly made her way back down the ladder.

"Today is not a good day for my stomach…" Hilbert groaned, still groggy from having been woken up so roughly.

"Sorry." I said.

"Whatever… you broke our rule, by the way." Hilbert groaned again, turning away from me.

I giggled and detached from him, lying flat on the bed. "I'll make it up to you. Promise." I said, prodding him in the ribcage.

Cheren cleared his throat. "Did you two…?" He asked, the implication hanging in the air.

"Did we what, Cheren?" I asked, peering over the edge of the bed to glare at him.

"You know what I mean. The uh… pidgeotto and the beedrill." Cheren said, averting his gaze from mine.

"Cheren…" I said, looking at him with a smile that didn't quite reach my eyes.

It was Cheren's turn to look like a deerling in the headlights. "F-Forget I said anything. Just be responsible!" Cheren said, then bolted out of the room.

"Prude." I said, sighing.

Hilbert stared at the door. "You know that we didn't do anything." He said.

"I know, but he started it." I huffed, crossing my arms.

"Ahaha… I'll go check on him." Bianca said, then left the room.

Hilbert was still staring at the door, looking pretty dazed. "Hey. Unova to Hilbert. Do you copy?" I asked, knocking him on the temple.

"Ow! What?" He said, rubbing his temple.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked, smirking at him.

Hilbert shook his head. "I still feel exhausted." He said, sighing.

"Want me to sleep beside you later? To make it up to you." I said, snickering at him.

"I'm already starting to feel more tired..."

"Then maybe I'll cuddle up even closer."

"Urgh." Hilbert groaned.

I poked Hilbert in the side. "Is this how it feels to be you?" Hilbert asked, jerking to the side from the sudden poking.

"Yes. You dumb tease." I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Look who's talking." Hilbert said, deeply sighing. "Urgh, whatever. What time is it?" He asked.

"Check it yourself!" I huffed, crossing my arms.

"I took my Xtransceiver off before we went to sleep, remember?" Hilbert said, raising his right wrist up for me to see.

"Fine, fine." I said, then checked my Xtransceiver. "It's 5:30 PM." I said, my eyes widening. "Oh, crap, the Gym's about to close!" I said, panicking.

Hilbert looked unfettered. "It closes for the dinner service at 7, remember? We have more than enough time." Hilbert said.

Since I was lying down to Hilbert's right, I clung onto his right arm and put on the waterworks. "Don't leave me…" I cried, putting on my best lillipup eyes.

"Tch…" Hilbert said as he looked into my eyes, then quickly looked in the other direction. "I can never get used to those. Cheap tactic, Hilda." He said, still looking away.

I let go of his arm and triumphantly placed my hands on my hips. "Heh, you're a pretty easy target. Remind me to pick on you after you've just woken u- mmph?!" I tried to say, but Hilbert cut me off.

In a flash, Hilbert was now on top of me. He was straddling me, bending over to force my gaze to meet his. I tried to squirm free with my arms, but he kept them pinned down against the bed with his superior strength. Trying to kick him proved fruitless, because he was positioned perfectly above my stomach.

Hilbert removed his grip from my arms and grabbed the sides of my head, forcing me to look at him. He glared at me with an intensity I'd never seen before, his eyes piercing into the very depths of my soul. I was terrified; I could only stare at him in shock and fear, painfully anticipating what was going to happen next.

"You've been a real pain, Hilda. I'm going to teach you right now to not," Hilbert said, removing his right hand from my head and placing his index finger against my lips. "Mess," He continued, beginning to press down.

" _Oh Arceus, what the hell is he doing…_ "

"With," He continued, punctuating his words by pressing down on my lips with each word that escaped his. "Me." The last word came out of his mouth, and he removed his hand from my lips. Instead, he placed it back down on my left arm, pinning it down with all his strength.

My heart was beating faster than ever. Realizing deep inside just what he was about to do to me, I simply closed my eyes and accepted my fate. " _Never cross Hilbert, never cross Hilbert, never cross Hilbert…_ " I repeated in my head, waiting anxiously as to what he was going to do next. I waited, and waited, and waited…

It felt like hours had passed, and Hilbert still didn't do anything. I opened my eyes, and saw that he was still glaring at me. I slowly raised an eyebrow in confusion, not daring to say anything. "What?" He asked, beckoning for me to speak with his right hand.

"Aren't you going to do something to me?" I asked.

"...What were you expecting?" Hilbert asked, still glaring at me.

"You know, uh…" I muttered, bringing a finger to my lips.

"And just what were you expecting me to do with your lips?" Hilbert asked.

"Uh…" I mumbled, realizing the hole I'd dug myself into.

"If you insist." Hilbert said then quickly brought his head down to mine.

" _Oh Arceus, this is it. I'm done. He's finally crossed the line-_ "

Just before his lips met mine, he suddenly came to a stop. Our faces were impossibly close, his breath filling my nostrils. " _Oran berries..?_ " I wondered. I found myself staring into Hilbert's eyes; his glare was still in full force, threatening to unveil my every secret. However, I could see his irises clearly; they were dyed a deep brown, complementing his hair.

I gulped. "If you're going to kiss me, then kiss me. I'm calling your bluff." I stuttered, recalling what he'd done to me yesterday morning.

"Hm." He grunted, pressing his forehead against mine. "When did I give you permission to speak?" He asked, narrowing his eyes even more.

"Eek! I'm sorry!" I stuttered again, looking even more afraid,

" _He's going to. He's really going to!_ "

"Do you want it? Do you want me to kiss you?" Hilbert asked. I lied there, motionless. "Tch." He scoffed, then pulled his head away from mine. He pulled his hands away from me and crossed his arms.

"Huh? Weren't you going to…" I trailed off, bringing my fingers to my lips.

"Heh." Hilbert chuckled, a smirk creeping onto his face. "Gotcha." He said.

I stared at him, wide-eyed, then felt my cheeks flush redder than ever before. "You jerk! You asshole! Playing with a woman's heart like that!" I said, angrily pounding my fists against his chest. He just laughed it off.

"Seriously, Hilbert, that might have been the absolute worst thing you've ever done to me. No, that was definitely the worst thing you've ever done to me." I said, sighing. "Even worse than calling me a burden." I continued, my voice growing lower.

"Sorry. I just wanted to see how you'd react." Hilbert said, sheepishly looking away from me.

"Seriously, that was way too far. I felt like I was in serious danger." I said.

"Was it really that scary?" Hilbert asked, still turned away from me.

I crossed my arms. "Want me to spell it out for you? You forced yourself on me and played my emotions like an out-of-tune piano! Absolute worst." I said

"You seemed awfully submissive, though. If you didn't like it, then you would have told me." He said.

"The hell kind of reasoning is that? I was fearing for my life, you know?!" I shouted at him.

Hilbert blankly stared at me. "Were you?" He asked.

"Urgh… not, really. I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least kind of used to your teasing. Plus, I do trust you enough to know that you won't do anything stupid." I said.

I sat down, leaning against the wall, and Hilbert sat down beside me. "But even so… never do that again, okay? We're setting boundaries." I demanded.

"...Okay." Hilbert said, then looked down at the sheets. "I'm sorry for what I did. I was frustrated." He said.

"Tch… Being frustrated doesn't let you do that to me. Even if I was the one that caused it." I said, then put a finger to my chin.

I narrowed my eyes and looked at Hilbert, glaring at him. "No straddling me, no touching my lips." I said, pointing to my stomach and my lips as I listed them off.

"Nothing about putting my face close to yours and threatening to kiss you?" Hilbert said, chuckling.

I shook my head. "Those, I'm used to. Not completely used to, but I'm used to it. I doubt I could stop you from doing that even if I tried." I said, sighing.

"You really did seem like you wanted me to kiss you back there, you know." Hilbert said.

I looked at him and sighed. "That's just your imagination." I said.

"Really? Because you were more submissive than I'd ever seen before. Tell me, are you a ma-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, you pervert." I cut him off.

"Sorry, sorry. Just teasing." Hilbert said, raising his hands in mock surrender.

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Still, I wouldn't mind if you did kiss me." I said.

Hilbert raised an eyebrow at me. "How so?" He asked.

"I dunno… I personally don't think that kisses on the lips should be reserved for someone you're dating, you know? I think it's perfectly fine for friends to do it." I explained.

"Then have you kissed anyone on the lips?" Hilbert asked.

I shook my head."Admittedly, no…" I said, sighing. "I haven't really found anyone close enough for me to feel comfortable with doing that with." I said.

"Except me?" Hilbert said, turning away from me.

"Yeah. Is that weird?" I asked, poking him in the side.

Hilbert flinched, then turned to face me. "I've never really cared either way. You know how my parents got together, right?" He said.

"No, I've never heard you tell the story." I replied.

Hilbert hugged his legs close to his chest. "It's a pretty short one. My dad was a traveling trainer. He met my mom in Rustboro. They hit it off, and my dad left her a gift. Inside of her." Hilbert said, suddenly looking very interested in his knees.

"No way. They…?" I asked.

"My mom told me that they were never really in a relationship. Just two people who really hit it off, became good friends, and made some bad decisions." Hilbert said. "And I'm the result of one of them." He said, resting his forehead on his knees.

"Hilbert…" I muttered, placing my hand on his back.

"And before you ask, no. My dad didn't leave my mom because he found out she was pregnant. He left long before, saying that he had to go back to traveling." Hilbert said. "My mom said that he'd visit every now and then… but he never did. I never met him." Hilbert said, hugging his legs even closer.

"My mom showed me a picture, though. She says I look exactly like him, but I never saw the resemblance." Hilbert said. I could only sit there in silence as Hilbert told his story. "Sorry. That came out of nowhere, didn't it." Hilbert said.

I shook my head. "No, no. It's fine. I'm happy you told me that story, Hilbert." I said, moving closer to him.

"Whether it's friends, family or lovers kissing… I don't really care. Being born of a relationship between 'just friends' has messed up my perception of that." Hilbert said, slowly raising his head. "In that case, I suppose I'm the same as you. Whether we kiss or not is of no consequence to me." He said, turning to look into my eyes.

"No tongue, okay?" I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

"No promises." He said. Hilbert gently held onto the side of my head, leaned over then pressed his lips against mine.

It lasted only a second, but I immediately felt relief wash all over my body. It felt as though a lightning bolt had entered my body through my lips, and loosened all my muscles from the inside. "We need to do that again." I said.

"Maybe for special occasions. Was that your first kiss?" He asked.

"Yeah. Yours?" I asked him.

"Mm."

I stretched my arms upwards, nearly hitting the ceiling. "To give my first kiss to my best friend. Much better than giving it to some creep who'd probably break up with me in a week." I said, chuckling at Hilbert.

He rolled his eyes. "Seriously, calling me your best friend… you could do better, you know." Hilbert said, rolling his eyes at me. He was clearly smiling.

"How the hell could I do better than someone who watches over me, cooks for me and even lets me sleep in the same bed as him?" I asked, staring at him.

"Is that what you look for in a man? Seriously, it's like you're describing a father." Hilbert said, staring back.

I widened my eyes in stark realization. "Huh. I guess you're right. Arceus damned daddy issues…" I muttered.

"What was that?" Hilbert asked, either not having heard what I'd said or intentionally being oblivious.

"Nothing!"

All of a sudden, the door opened. Hilbert and I turned to see who had opened the door and saw Bianca and Cheren. We awkwardly stared at each other until Cheren cleared his throat. "Sorry, were we interrupting something?" He asked.

"No. I'm glad you didn't come in earlier, at least." Hilbert said.

"What exactly were you doing here earlier?" Cheren asked, his eyes narrowed.

"That's between me and Hilda." Hilbert said. Cheren and Bianca walked into the room. Bianca calmly sat on the chair by the desk, while Cheren just awkwardly stood near the bathroom door. Hilbert and I went down from his bed and sat on Bianca's bed.

"You two should get to the Striaton Gym. It's about to close." Bianca cheerily said.

"Give us a moment to change." I said, looking at Hilbert. Hilbert nodded at me.

"Go ahead. We'll be staying here, waiting for you. Okay?" Bianca said, but opened her mouth to talk again. "Oh yeah, I wanted to talk about something. How long are we going to keep traveling together?" Bianca said.

"Yeah, about that…"

"You see…"

"Well…"

Cheren, Hilbert and I spoke at the same time. The four of us confusedly looked at each other, each of us gesturing for the others to speak first. "Guys?" Bianca asked, confused as well.

"You can go first, Cheren." I said, gesturing to Cheren.

Cheren cleared his throat. "I'd been meaning to tell you all this, but after we all cleared the Striaton Gym, I was going to travel on my own. Sorry it took so long for me to mention it." He said.

"Is there a reason why you want to travel alone?" Bianca asked, now looking at him.

"I suppose I just want to take the Gym challenge on my own terms. I'm not saying you guys are holding me back or anything, but I just want to keep getting stronger without having to think of anything else." Cheren said, closing his eyes.

"Will we still meet up along the way?" Bianca asked.

"Of course. I'll give you guys a call whenever I'm in a city." Cheren said, smiling at Bianca. He then turned to us and let out a deep sigh. "I feel like I know what you two are about to say…" Cheren said.

"I'll say it plainly. Hilda and I were planning to travel together." Hilbert said.

I nodded in affirmation. "Yeah. I'm trying to prove something to myself, so we're traveling together. And this way, someone can keep Hilbert in check. Pretty good deal, right?" I followed up.

Bianca sighed. "And I suppose traveling with you two isn't an option?" Bianca asked.

"Well…"

"I don't really mind, but..."

"Thought so. I guess I'll get used to traveling on my own, then." Bianca said, smiling wistfully.

"Are you sure? You can come with us if you really want." I said, trying to cheer Bianca up.

Bianca shook her head. "No, it's fine. I don't want to get in the way of you two. Besides, I guess I was thinking of traveling alone too, but didn't really want to mention it to anyone." She said, scratching her cheek.

"You're not making excuses, are you?" Hilbert asked.

Bianca shook her head again. "I wouldn't dream of it. Seriously." She said.

"Well, that settles that. After Hilbert and Hilda clear the Striaton Gym, we go our separate ways, just like we did for Route 2. Except this time, we really will be going our separate ways." Cheren summed up.

"That's the long and short of it… I'll miss traveling you guys, even if we did only do it for a little while." I said.

Bianca gave us a half-hearted smile. "We'll still meet up, right? It'll be just like we never split up." He said.

"By the way, about the Striaton Gym…" Cheren said. "Never mind. They told us to keep it a surprise. Good luck, you two." He continued, shaking his head.

"How tough was it?" I asked.

"It was an experience. Think of it as a trial by fire." Cheren said.

Hilbert stood up to leave. "Mm. We'll be right back, then." He said.

"Are you sure you want to go out dressed like that?" Cheren said, pointing at Hilbert's attire. He was still dressed in his muscle shirt and shorts, while I was still in my top and leggings.

"Good point." Hilbert said, then immediately took off his shorts.

"Arceus, Hilbert, are you an exhibitionist?!" I shouted, frantically covering my eyes.

Hilbert stared at me. "I'm comfortable enough with my body to do this." He said.

"Well, we aren't! Put something on!" I shouted again.

"Eh, I don't know. I'm pretty comfortable with my body, too." Cheren said.

"I mean, I am too, but I wouldn't start changing in front of you guys… Maybe just in front of Hilda." Bianca said.

I balled my fists beside me. "Am I the weird one?!" I cried.

Bianca looked up. "Come to think of it, Hilda's never really changed in front of me…" She said.

"I just don't like showing off my body, okay?!" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You do look good in a towel." Hilbert said, snickering.

I glared at him, my face reddening due to both embarrassment and frustration. "I hope you're not too attached to your wallet…" I growled.

"Whatever." Hilbert said. "Go get changed." He said, heading up to his bunk to change into his traveling clothes. I did the same, except I went into the bathroom.

We changed into our traveling attire, got our Pokéballs - and Oran berries, in Hilbert's case - and bade Bianca and Cheren goodbye. We went down the stairs and left the Pokémon center, making our way to the Striaton Gym.

" _Time to show them what we've got. We've got this!_ "

* * *

Hilda and I were at the door to the Striaton Gym. I checked my Xtransceiver. "It's 6 PM. Do you think we have enough time?" I asked Hilda, who was looking up at the door. "If we hurry. Let's go!" Hilda said, then pushed the door open.

We stepped into the Gym and were immediately greeted by the waitress from earlier. "Welcome to the Striaton Gym! My name is Tia, your waitress for today." The waitress said, giving us a curtsy. I bowed back, while Hilda tried to give her a curtsy back. "No need to be so formal! You two are our esteemed guests for tonight." The waitress said.

The waitress stepped back and pulled a Pokéball out from her pocket. A waiter came into view, carrying a Pokéball on his serving tray. The waiter looked into Hilda's eyes, while the waitress looked into mine. Hilda and I nodded at each other and took a Pokéball from our bag.

"May we interest you in some appetizers? On the house, of course." The waitress said, a devilish glint in her eyes.

"My name is Maxwell, and I will also be your waiter for today. Allow us to give you a warm up." He said, smiling politely at Hilda.

"Bring it."

"Very well." Hilda and I said, then Pokéballs went flying.

Hilda and I seemed to have been on the same wavelength, as we sent out our newest team members. Willow looked scared, but shook her head and took a fighting stance. Torch, on the other hand, looked ready to go from the beginning, angrily glaring at the opposing Pokémon.

On the opponent's side of the field was a lillipup and a purrloin. Unlike the wild members of their species, these two looked used to each other. The lillipup was in front of the waiter, while the purrloin was in front of the waitress. The four Pokémon looked ready to go, wanting to see what the others are made of.

"I'll go first! Willow, use your leer attack to lower their defenses!" Hilda said. Willow's timid expression was replaced by an intimidating one, the opposing Pokémon suddenly looking nervous. It seems as though the leer had worked.

"Torch! Use your leer attack too!" I commanded. Torch's expression was intimidating enough to begin with, so he narrowed his eyes and leered at the other Pokémon. They suddenly looked incredibly nervous, Purrloin even taking a step back in fright.

"The elemental monkeys… heehee." The waitress said, giggling.

"Indeed. I wonder." The waiter said, still smiling politely.

"Very well! Lillipup, tackle the pansage!" The waitress said, pointing at Willow. Lillipup shook its head and charged straight towards Willow, ramming her with all its might.

"You as well, Purrloin! Scratch the pansear!" The waiter said. Purrloin sped forward and brought its claw down on Torch, scratching him in the torso.

"Perfect. Willow, use your vine whip attack to slam the lillipup into the ground!" Hilda said. Willow's tail started to extend. She brought it down onto Lillipup, slamming it full force into the floor. Lillipup looked dazed, but not out for the count.

"Torch, attack with your fury swipes!" I said. Torch viciously raised his hands and repeatedly slashed Purrloin with his claws, causing it to reel back in pain.

"Not bad. Now, Lillipup, bite the pansage with all your might!" The waiter said. Lillipup got off the floor and sunk its teeth into Willow's arm, causing her to flail around in pain. The vine whip was still extended and threatened to whip whatever it came into contact with. Willow shook Lillipup free, but not without sustaining damage in the process.

"Interesting! Show them the strength of a real fury swipes attack, Purrloin!" The waitress said. Purrloin got to its feet and charged at Torch, brutally slashing away at his body.

"There! Willow, use your vine whip on the purrloin!" Hilda said. Willow noticed the opening in Purrloin's attacks and brought the vine whip down on Purrloin, smacking it to the floor. Purrloin looked dazed and out for the count.

"Purrloin!" The waitress cried.

"You're open. Torch, use fury swipes on the lillipup!" I said. Torch dashed towards Lillipup and barraged it with a flurry of slashes, causing Lillipup to yelp in pain.

"Bite it, Lillipup!" The waiter said. Lillipup reared its head and bit into Torch's hand, causing him to grunt in pain.

"Wide open. Willow! Finish it off with a vine whip!" Hilda said. Willow's tail extended longer than ever before, bringing it down hard onto Lillipup.

Lillipup was forcibly dislodged from Torch's hand, unable to fight any more. The waiter and waitress returned their Pokémon to their Pokéballs and gave us a bow and a curtsy, respectively. "You two did very well. The Gym leaders are waiting for you at the end of the hall." The waitress said, gesturing to the curtain at the back of the room.

"Gym leaders…" Hilda echoed. "That waiter named Cilan from earlier said he was one of the Gym leaders." I said. "If the Striaton Gym is supposed to teach trainers about type effectiveness… then I assume there are two other Gym leaders, along with Cilan." I guessed.

The waitress smiled at us. "You would be correct. Now, go through the curtain and meet with the Gym leaders. They've been waiting for you, heehee!" The waitress said.

The waitress and waiters went into a staff-only room, leaving Hilda and I alone in the dining hall. The dining hall was quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop from the other side of the room; a far cry from how bustling it was earlier. Hilda and I made our way over to the curtain, Willow and Torch trailing behind us.

I kneeled down and patched up Torch's wounds with a potion and gave him an Oran berry to hold. He hid it in the tuft of red fur on his head and gave me a playful grin. Hilda did the same to Willow, who hid the Oran Berry in the tree on her head. Hilda and I nodded at each other, then parted the curtain to reveal the Gym leaders.

"Took you two long enough!" One of them said.

" _I already don't like his attitude…_ "

Three waiters were standing on an elevated platform directly across us. They looked to be just a little older than me, but definitely seemed like strong trainers. What _was_ striking about them was the color of their hair: Cilan, the waiter from earlier had bright green hair. The waiter who made that initial comment at us had fiery red hair. The waiter who stayed silent had teal blue hair.

" _Doesn't take a genius to figure out what's about to happen._ "

"Allow us to formally introduce ourselves. I've spoken to you once before, but for formalities…" The green haired waiter said, then stepped forward. "My name is Cilan. One of the Gym leaders of Striaton City." Cilan said, bowing deeply to us.

"My turn!" The rude red haired waiter said, then stepped forward. "I'm Chili! Another one of the Gym leaders here." Chili said, cheekily grinning at us.

"Then allow me to go last." The blue haired one said, his tone somewhat pompous.

Hilda elbowed me in the ribs, causing me to flinch. "I can tell what you're thinking. It's written all over your face." Hilda whispered to me.

"Sorry." I said, sighing.

The blue-haired prick scoffed. "Are you quite done? My name is Cress. The last - and strongest - of the Gym leaders here in Striaton City." Cress said, giving us a haughty bow.

"Hey, Cress! I'm the strongest here!" Chili indignantly said.

"Oh? How many battles have you won against me?" Cress said, smirking at Chili.

"Grr… How many battles have you won against Cilan, then?" Chili shot back, causing Cress to wince.

"Calm down, you two... Save the fighting for the Gym challengers." Cilan said, trying to rein them in.

Cilan cleared his throat and tried to get us back on track. "Chili, Cress and myself are the triplet Gym leaders of Striation City, tasked with teaching fledgling trainers about type advantages. Incidentally, while those who take on the Gym challenge are free to challenge the Gyms in any order of their liking, the Pokémon League requires everyone to start from Striaton City." Cilan said.

"Did you know this?" Hilda whispered to me. I shook my head.

Cress shrugged. "It seems that this is new information to you, but that's of no concern. Fortunately, you managed to get to Striaton City first, so we can proceed with this battle regardless." Cress said.

"Let me guess. We're going to fight the Gym leader that has a type advantage over our starter." I said.

"That's right! Sucks that I can't fight you guys, but I had a blast with that four-eyes from earlier!" Chili said.

Cilan let out a sigh. "His friend Bianca gave me quite the challenge as well, but let's set that aside for now." Cilan said.

"Hilbert, your opponent will be me. Hilda, your opponent will be Cress. Who wants to go first?" Cilan asked.

"If it's alright with you, I'd like to go first." I said to Hilda.

Hilda nodded."Hmm… that's fine with me. I kind of want to see the kinds of strategies they'll use." Hilda said. Chili stepped down from the platform and pulled up a chair for Hilda to sit on. "Thank you." Hilda said, then sat down on the chair.

"No problem. Enjoy the show!" Chili replied, then took a seat on the other end of the room. Cress took a seat beside Chili.

"The rules of the Striaton Gym are simple. Both the challenger and Gym leader are permitted to use two Pokémon each in a singles battle. You may not switch your Pokémon out directly after the other has fainted." Cress said. Hilda and I nodded at Cress.

"Now, with that out of the way…" Cilan said, then pressed a button at the back of the wall. The raised platform lowered to match the floor's elevation, revealing the perfect arena for us to fight on. Cilan took out a Pokéball from his pocket and raised it. "Nothing personal, Hilbert… I'm Cilan, a grass type specialist and a Gym leader of Striaton City. We're gonna battle… come what may." Cilan said, then threw his Pokéball onto the ground.

I threw my own Pokéball onto the ground and out came Blade. It had been a while since he last battled, so he looked fully rested and raring to go. "Leading with your starter? I see…" Cilan said. His Pokéball fell onto the ground, revealing a lillipup.

" _How many more of these do I have to fight?!_ "

"Let's begin with a test of your strength. Now, Lillipup, track it with odor sleuth!" Cilan said. Lillipup ran up to Blade and sniffed at him, perhaps trying to remember his scent.

"Fire a water gun at it!" I said. Blade was in prime position to hit Lillipup with a point blank water gun, so he blasted Lillipup full force with his strongest water gun and knocked it across the arena.

"Ah! Lillipup!" Cilan cried. Lillipup stood up from the puddle of water and leered at Blade. "Lillipup, lower its defenses with your leer!" Cilan said. Lillipup was already leering, so it simply intensified its glare. Blade stepped back, clearly intimidated.

I looked around the arena and noticed something peculiar about the floor. " _These tiles look shiny. Maybe…?_ " I wondered, then put my haphazard plan into action. "Blade! Use water sport on the area in front of you!" I said.

"Huh?" I heard Chili say, but I paid it no heed. Blade looked confused but followed my orders, spraying the area in front of him with water.

"What the heck are you doing?" Hilda asked from behind me.

"Just watch." I said. "Water sport is an attack that lowers the efficacy of high temperatures, but I use grass types, so I'm not sure what you're going for here… regardless, Lillipup, tackle it!" Cilan said. Lillipup lowered its head and charged towards Blade.

"Blade, don't dodge. Take its attack head on!" I said. Blade folded his arms and looked back at me suspiciously. Lillipup charged towards Blade but suddenly lost its balance, skidding into a nearby table.

"What?!" Chili exclaimed in surprise. Cress looked shocked as well.

"He noticed that the floor was tiled, and made it slippery with water sport… Interesting." Cress commented.

Hilda snickered. "Did you get this idea from when you slipped and hit your head in the shower last week?" She asked.

"I still have the damn bruise to show for it." I said, sighing.

Lillipup was still on the floor, reeling from the crash. "Blade, finish it off with one last water gun!" I said, pointing at Lillipup. Blade took in a deep breath and faced Lillipup, blasting it with a water gun. Lillipup was sent crashing into the wall, defeated.

Cilan sighed and recalled Lillipup into its Pokéball. "Only one Pokémon left… let's see…" Cilan said, then threw another Pokéball onto the ground.

"Pansage!" Cilan's Pansage said as it came out of the Pokéball. " _It looks incredibly similar to Willow. Then again, I suppose it is a pansage._ " I thought. I looked back at Hilda and she seemed focused on the battle, even motioning at me to get it going. I shrugged and looked back at the arena.

Pansage didn't have the constantly frightened look Willow had. Instead, this one seemed more jolly, perhaps similar to other pansage. " _I'd never seen a pansage other than Willow and this one before, so I can't say for sure…_ " I thought. I shook off the random thought and focused on the battle. " _What is that in its head fur…?_ " I wondered. " _Is that a coupon? A certificate?_ "

"Allow me to retaliate… Pansage, use your tail as a vine whip!" Cilan said. Pansage ran up to Blade and slammed him with its tail, smacking him into a nearby table. Blade coughed out a bit of water and looked like he was in pain.

"Of course, grass is super effective against water…" I said, now scowling.

"Damn, he looks terrifying." Chili said.

"You get used to it!" Hilda shouted in reply.

The familiar blue aura surrounded Blade, signaling that his health was low enough for Torrent to activate. "Tch, he was pushed that far in a single blow?!" I said, gritting my teeth.

"Pansage is quite strong… Though your oshawott is, too. A normal water type would have fainted outright." Cilan said.

"Don't patronize me." I said, scowling at Cilan.

I must have startled him, because he nearly tripped while taking a few steps back. "I-I'm sorry! Let's focus on the battle, now!" Cilan said, trying to regain his composure.

"Seriously. He's terrifying." Cress said.

"He's a good guy deep down! Don't worry about it, Cilan!" Hilda cheered.

"Cut it out! Blade, blast it with a water gun!" I said, irritated at their useless comments.

Blade took a deep breath and shot out a powerful water gun - more powerful than I'd ever seen him shoot before. The water gun slammed into Pansage full force, but failed to even knock it off its feet.

"Okay… Pansage, finish it off with your strongest vine whip!" Cilan said. Pansage ran up to Blade, deftly evading the slippery spots on the floor and brought its tail down on him, slamming him into the floor. Blade laid on the floor, defeated.

I sighed and recalled Blade, affectionately rubbing his Pokéball. I stowed it away in my bag and took out my second Pokémon. "Go! Torch!" I shouted, then threw the Pokéball onto the floor. Torch appeared from the Pokéball, looking feisty as ever.

"A pansear… Chili, what do you think?" Cress asked.

Chili nodded in approval. "I like the look in his eyes. Looks just like mine!" He said, now straddling his chair for whatever reason.

"Gh, hold on…" I said, realizing how my earlier actions might have screwed myself over. " _Water sport lowers the effectiveness of fire type moves, which means I put myself at a huge disadvantage!_ " I thought.

"You just realized that your water sport earlier put you into a bad spot, didn't you. Let's see how you get out of this one." Cress said, smirking at me.

" _I'm going to wipe that smug look off your face, jackass._ " I thought, my scowl intensifying. "Calm down, Hilbert. Think this through." Hilda said, taking my hand in hers.

" _Fine. I'll postpone his beatdown._ " I thought. "Torch! Use incinerate on the tiles!" I said. Torch immediately got to work quick-drying the tiles, getting rid of the water sport from earlier. "If the incinerate attack is hot enough to burn berries, then it's hot enough to dry the tiles." I said, sighing in relief.

"You're wide open… Pansage, attack it with fury swipes!" Cilan said. Pansage dashed towards Torch and assaulted him with a flurry of scratches, causing him to flail backwards.

"Now, while it's up close! Torch, use incinerate!" I said. The red-hot flames erupted from Torch's mouth, scorching Pansage for all its worth. Smoke erupted from the attack, causing Torch to jump back to regain his bearings. Pansage was still in the smoke, seemingly not wanting to even get out. " _What is it… wait, what's that light?!_ " I thought, noticing the bright light coming from the smoke.

The smoke cleared up, revealing the source of the light. The coupon that was in Pansage's fur was glowing, then disappeared in a flash of light. All of a sudden, Pansage looked even stronger, a red aura emanating from its body. "What just happened?!" I asked, Torch now looking panicked.

"The Striaton Gym isn't just about teaching trainers about type effectiveness… It's also about teaching trainers how to deal with being at a type disadvantage. This is one such strategy." Cilan said. "Pansage, continue using fury swipes!" Cilan commanded. Pansage dashed ahead and let loose another flurry of fury swipes, but this time Torch seemed to have taken even more damage from it.

"It's stronger?!" I shouted.

"The weakness policy is an item that sharply boosts a Pokémon's offenses when hit with a super effective move. It's an item that turns a disadvantage into offensive momentum. That being said…" Cilan explained.

"Not if I have anything to say about it. Torch, continue using incinerate!" I said. Torch continued to breathe out flames, incinerating Pansage with all his might. "Even if my offenses have been raised, the fact remains that I remain at a type disadvantage…" Cilan said. "Pansage, rouse yourself with work up!"

Pansage leaped back and raised its arms high in the air, channeling energy. The red aura grew even brighter as Pansage looked wider awake and focused. "It's getting even stronger?!" I cried.

"We'll end this with one blow. Pans-"

"Torch, use incinerate again!" I said, cutting Cilan off. Torch jumped back and breathed out even stronger flames this time, fully scorching Pansage.

"Let's end this. Pansage, use fury swipes one last time!" Cilan said. Torch looked unfazed as he took the Oran berry out from his hair and ate it, bracing for impact. Pansage's attack connected, blowing Torch away with a powerful sequence of strikes. Torch crashed onto a nearby table, looking almost finished.

To everyone's surprise, Torch got to his feet, still able to fight. "That wasn't enough?!" Chili shouted.

"Gluttony… the ability every elemental monkey has. Torch knew that he was going to take a lethal hit, so he ate an Oran berry to recover his health before it could happen." Cilan said, nodding. Torch looked at me funny, but went back to staring Pansage down.

"Fascinating. So you can use Gluttony like that?" Cress asked.

"I just gave Torch an Oran berry. I didn't know it would actually work that way." I said, sighing.

"Liar. You knew what you were doing, giving Torch that berry." Hilda said.

Everyone sounded ridiculous. "You give me too much credit. Who doesn't give their Pokémon items?!" I complained.

"That's enough. Torch, end this battle with incinerate!" I said, pointing at Pansage. There was a gleam in Torch's eye as he sucked in air, then expelled it out as the red-hot flames he loved using. Pansage was now fully barbecued, flat on the ground. It was unable to get back onto its feet, signaling that the battle was over.

Cilan sighed and returned Pansage to his Pokéball. Torch collapsed onto the ground, exhausted from taking that many boosted fury swipes. I returned Torch to his Pokéball and rubbed it. "Well done, Torch. We cleared the Striaton Gym thanks to you and Blade." I said, then returned the Pokbéall into my bag.

Hilda rose up from her seat and gave me a big hug. "Congrats, Hilbert! You did it!" She said, squeezing me tight.

I hugged her back. "It was close. Too close." I said, sighing as I rubbed her on the back.

"Mm… that feels good. Keep doing that." Hilda said, purring on my chest.

"Haha… well done. You earned this victory, Hilbert." Cilan said, warmly smiling at me. Hilda and I let go of each other, then I walked up to Cilan and extended my hand for a handshake.

Cilan nodded and shook my hand, his grasp surprisingly firm. "Thank you. That was a tough battle." I said, giving him a smile.

"I suppose it's my turn, now. Hilda?" Cress said, rising from his seat.

Hilda pumped her fist in the air in front of her."With pleasure." Hilda replied.

"I suppose I'll go take a seat somewhere…" I said, looking for a vacant seat. "Hilbert! Cilan! Come sit over here!" Chili said, dragging another chair over to where he and Cress sat.

" _He's not so bad, I suppose. Hyperactive, but not malicious. Unlike…_ " I said, glaring daggers into the back of Cress' head. Inexplicably, Cress shivered. "I feel as though I've made a grave mistake…" Cress said.

"Why do you say that?" Cilan asked. Cress just shook his head.

I took the seat in the middle, beside Chili. Cilan took the seat on the far left. It was time for Hilda's battle against Cress.

* * *

It was my turn now. I'm not charging in headfirst without a second thought; no, this time I have a strategy in mind. " _If the weakness policy activates when the wielder is hit… then I'll just have to take it out in one blow!_ " I ran the plan through in my mind.

Cress stood where Cilan did earlier, a Pokéball visible in his hand. He had this confident look about him, if a little smug. " _Something about this guy just strikes me as pretentious…_ " I thought, narrowing my gaze at him. Cress flinched and stepped back, raising the Pokéball in front of him. "L-Let's begin." Cress said, then regained his composure.

Cress gave me a bow and raised the Pokéball in front of him again. "My name is Cress, a water type specialist and a Gym leader of Striaton City. What incredible luck for you, miss Hilda! You get to battle the strongest among us three." Cress said, a smug grin plastered all over his face.

" _I really don't like this guy's attitude._ "

I saw Hilbert sighing in the corner of my eye, Cilan awkwardly giving him a pat on the back. "He's usually like this! Don't mind him!" Chili shouted from across the room. Cress looked back at Chili, smiling at him with his left eye twitching.

"I'll get you back for that later, you pr-"

"Focus on your opponent!" I shouted, throwing a Pokéball onto the ground.

Smokey came out of the Pokéball, well rested and ready to go. "Very well. Like Cilan did to Hilbert, allow me to test your strength!" Cress said, then chucked the Pokéball in his hands onto the ground in front of him. A lillipup, practically identical to Cilan's, popped out.

" _If I have to fight one more lillipup, I'm going to lose it._ " I internally complained, gritting my teeth. Smokey concernedly looked up at me, but I waved her off.

"Smokey! Start off with an ember attack!" I said. Smokey breathed in and unleashed her flames on Lillipup, searing it. Lillipup looked undaunted and still ready to go.

"The same strategy as Hilbert? I see! Lillipup! Tackle your opponent!" Cress said, pointing at Smokey. Lillipup shook the flames off and charged towards Smokey, ramming her in the belly. Smokey toppled over, but regained her footing.

"Right where I want you! Smokey, fire an ember at point blank!" I said. Smokey blasted Lillipup with embers from less than a meter away, causing it to stagger back in pain.

"Your tepig seems used to that strategy. How often have you practiced it?" Cress said.

I nodded. "Too many times." I said, glancing at Hilbert. He gave me a supportive thumbs up.

"I see. Lillipup, bite onto its torso!" Cress said. Lillipup got back onto its feet and lunged towards Smokey, angrily biting onto her belly.

"Smokey! Use a defense curl to crush it!" I said.

Smokey immediately curled up, sandwiching Lillipup between its body. Lillipup yelped in pain, detaching from Smokey's belly and panting in pain. "Defense curl as an offensive move? The hell did you learn that?!" Chili shouted.

I shrugged. "I just figured." I said.

"Good move, but parlor tricks won't help you from my attacks. Lillipup, bite onto its back!" Cress said, to which Lillipup obliged immediately. It leapt forward and bit into Smokey's back, causing her to recoil in pain.

"Smokey, shake it off!" I said, Smokey vigorously tried to shake the Lillipup off, eventually sending it flying in the air in front of her. Lillipup immediately regained its footing, but looked winded.

"One more attack should do it. Smokey, finish it off with ember!" I said. Lillipup was too dazed to get out of the way, so Smokey's ember hit with full force. Lillipup was sent flying away in front of Cress, defeated.

Cress nodded and recalled Lillipup back to its Pokéball. "An excellent display. However, it's time for the type advantage lesson to begin!" He said, then threw another Pokéball onto the ground. An adorable panpour popped out, its eyes closed and tail wagging. " _Just like Cheren's. If this is anything like Hilbert's fight, then…_ " I said, then checked the fur on Panpour's head.

" _Yep, there's something poking out of it. Time to put my plan into action._ "

"Allow me to begin. Panpour, fire off a water gun!" Cress said. Panpour let loose a water gun from its mouth, nailing Smokey square in the body. She was knocked back, but was still able to stand.

"Sorry, Smokey, just try to hang on." I said. Smokey nodded back at me. "Smokey, lower its defenses with a tail whip!" I said. Smokey ran up to Panpour and adorably wagged her tail at it, causing it to look a little less on edge.

"I'll use your own tactic against you! Panpour, attack it with a water gun at point blank!" Cress said. Smokey was still directly in front of Panpour from the tail whip, so Panpour had the perfect shot. Panpour let loose a strong water gun, knocking Smokey a ways away. Smokey managed to get to her feet, her body glowing with a blazing red aura.

I grit my teeth. "Blaze might be activated… but that's not what I'm going for. Smokey, use one last tail whip on it!" I said. Smokey nodded and ran back up to the Panpour, wagging her tail at it. Panpour looked confused, but less wary all the same.

"I see your play. Very well, Panpour, finish it off with one last water gun." Cress said. Panpour obliged, blowing Smokey away with a powerful blast of water. Smokey was sent flying and landed in front of me, defeated.

I smiled and returned Smokey to her Pokéball. "You did good, Smokey. And now…" I put Smokey's Pokéball back in my bag and took out Willow's, then threw it onto the ground.

Willow's frightened expression every time she was sent out from her Pokéball was something I was going to have to get used to. It seemed like her demeanor was unusual for a pansage, because I overheard the conversation across the room. "I'd never seen a pansage with such a… meek expression." Cilan said.

"Looks just like you! Kind of like how Hilbert's pansear looks kind of like me." Chili said, grinning.

"I guess… maybe Pansage and Hilda's pansage would get along…?" Cilan guessed.

Chili shrugged. "Probably. I know for sure Pansear and Hilbert's would get along just fine!" He said. Hilbert looked exhausted, seated between the two brothers.

I grimaced and focused on the battle at hand. "Me first. Willow, intimidate it with leer!" I said. Willow immediately replaced her frightened expression with one of intimidation, causing Panpour to stagger back in fright. " _Did it open its eyes? Huh._ " I noted.

"Panpour! Blast it away with a water gun!" Cress said. Panpour shot out a water gun at Willow, causing her to reel back in mild irritation.

"One more! Willow, use your strongest leer!" I said. Willow was irritated already, so her leer was even more potent this time. Panpour nearly tripped in fear of Willow, almost landing on its bottom.

"Panpour! Charge in and attack it with lick!" Cress said. Panpour dashed forward and extended its tongue, grossly licking Willow. Willow staggered back in pain and surprise. "Now! Willow, use- huh?" I said, then noticed electricity through Willow's fur.

Willow tried to move her arm, but looked increasingly concerned as her arm kept failing to move. "It looks like your pansage is paralyzed. What will you do now?" Cress taunted.

"Grr… I'll show you. Willow, it's time! Finish this battle in one blow with your strongest vine whip!" I said. Willow temporarily broke free of the paralysis and raised her tail in the air, bringing it down hard on Panpour. But before the attack connected…

"What is it doing?" Hilbert asked. Panpour took the item from its fur and ate it. " _What were those green circles? Was that a berry? I thought it was a weakness policy!_ " I thought, now panicking.

The vine whip came crashing down hard on Panpour, slamming its head into the ground. It was supposed to take massive damage from having its defense lowered several times, but… "It's still standing?!" I said in surprise as Panpour got up from the floor.

"Heh. Did you think we'd use the same strategy twice?" Cress said.

"What did it eat?!"

"The weakness policy, as stated earlier, turns a disadvantage into offensive momentum. This is another way of dealing with a type disadvantage." Cress said. "Panpour ate a Rindo berry, which decreases the damage it takes from a super effective grass type move. It's an item that turns a disadvantage into defensive momentum!" Cress said.

"Hilda's strategy wasn't bad… It would have worked on me, honestly." Cilan said. "A Pokémon holding a weakness policy wouldn't even get the chance to activate it if it was defeated in one blow. However, if a Pokémon ate a berry like the Rindo berry…" Cilan trailed off, the implication all too clear.

"Now, if you don't mind! Panpour, use work up!" Cress said, Like Pansage before it, Panpour raised its arms and roused itself, looking more alert.

"It raised its offenses, but that doesn't matter! A single attack should be enough to defeat it. Willow, finish it off with a vine whip!" I said. Willow tried to raise her tail in the air, but found herself unable to move. "Grr… the paralysis!" I growled.

"How fortunate of us to have paralyzed your pansage. Now, to finish this. Panpour, use fury swipes!" Cress said. Panpour ran up to the helpless Willow and furiously swiped at her, causing her to reel back in pain.

It looked like Willow was almost done for. "Grr… break free from it, Willow! End this battle with a vine whip!" I commanded.

Willow tried to break free, but still couldn't shake off the paralysis. "It seems like your pansage is done. Panpour, one last wave of fury swipes!" Cress said. Panpour unleashed its fury swipes once again, causing Willow to growl in pain. Willow really was almost defeated; she was unsteady on her feet, and was hunched forward. Her chest was rapidly rising and falling, clearly showing her exhaustion.

" _Is this how it ends? Through poor planning, and bad luck?_ " I thought, the dark thoughts spiraling into my mind once more. " _No, no. There's no way you could have known. You need to believe in Willow!_ " I tried to push back. I clapped my cheeks and looked at Willow, whose expression was one of intense fear now. "Willow, please. Try your best to break free of the paralysis! Finish this match with your best vine whip!" I said, hoping my thoughts would reach Willow.

Willow's still had her frightened expression, but it changed into one of determination. The electricity was still coursing through her fur, but she managed to break free and lunge towards Panpour. With a single strike of her tail, Panpour was slammed across the arena and landed by Cress's feet, defeated.

Cress sighed and returned Panpour to its Pokéball. "Congratulations, Hilda. That was a truly excellent display. While it's hard to believe that I was defeated, allow me to congratulate you on behalf of the three of us." Cress said, still finding a way to show off his inflated ego.

Willow slumped forward, clearly unable to fight as well. "She was holding on until she couldn't fight anymore… Thank you, Willow." I said as I returned her to her Pokéball. I sighed in relief, thankful that the bad luck didn't persist until the end.

"She did it." I could hear Hilbert say.

"Hilda was really on the ropes for a second there…" Cilan said.

"Hey, Hilda's kind of pretty, isn't she? Think I have a shot with her?" Chili said, still grinning.

" _Oh, Hilbert's not going to like that one…_ "

"I don't know. Ask her." Hilbert said, then walked up towards me. Chili and Cilan followed behind him.

" _What the hell is he going to do?_ " I thought, watching the three approach me.

"Hilbert, I could overhear your conversation. What are you getting at?" I asked.

Hilbert smirked at me and gestured at Chili. "Chili here has something to say to you." He said. Chili walked up to me and cleared his throat. " _Hilbert, what the hell?_ " I thought, looking at the red-haired waiter.

Chili opened his mouth to speak. "You were super strong, Hilda!" He said.

I awkwardly laughed. "Thanks… it was close though." I nervously replied.

"Hey, are you seeing anyone? Want to hit the town with me after we finish working here?" Chili asked, giving me a beaming smile.

"No, I'm not seeing anyone, but…" I trailed off, then Chili looked ecstatic.

"Really? You aren't? That's great! You wanna go on a date later?" He asked, stepping closer to me.

I stepped back. "I, I don't really…" I muttered out, but Chili got even closer. I turned to look at Hilbert and shot him a message with my eyes, pleading for him to help me. He smirked and walked up to me.

"Hey, Hilbert, what are you d-" Chili said, but couldn't finish his sentence. Hilbert pressed his lips against mine, staring into my eyes. I glared at him.

" _Is this the best you could do?! What are we going to do about this misunderstanding?!"_ I tried to signal to him with my eyes by staring at him in disbelief. He closed his eyes, as if telling me to let the moment happen. I rolled my eyes and closed them as well, gently savoring the feeling of his lips on mine.

After a few seconds, we broke the kiss. "Wait, Hilbert, you're dating her? No fair, man!" Chili said, angrily stomping the ground.

"No, we aren't. But I don't like the way you were coming onto her." Hilbert said.

I sighed. "Hilbert, please. You sound like my dad." I said. Hilbert's interruption managed to give me an out. "Sorry, Chili, but I'm just not interested." I said, shooting him down. Chili looked depressed, but Cress and Cilan immediately flanked him and patted him on the back.

I nervously laughed. "Don't worry, Chili… I'm sure you'll find someone." I tried to console him.

"It's alright… as long as these two are still single, I don't have a problem!" Chili said, grinning at me. " _He bounced back quick._ " I thought.

Cress and Cilan nervously looked at each other. "Yeah… we're single, right?" Cilan nervously said.

"Indeed. We are." Cress similarly nervously replied.

Chili looked at Cilan, then Cress, then back at Cilan. "Are you two hiding something from me?" He asked.

"You see, Chili…" Cilan said.

"Maybe it's best if we showed him. Tia!" Cress said, calling the waitress from earlier.

"Yes, dear?" The waitress said as she came into view from behind the curtain. The waiter from earlier followed behind her.

"Uh… let's formally congratulate Hilbert and Hilda for clearing the Striaton Gym, before we blow Chili's mind any further." Cilan said. The waiter gave Cilan two badges, who in turn gave Hilbert and I one badge each. I examined the badge. " _Such a nice design… It even has the colors representing grass, fire and water._ " I thought, smiling.

"Oh, do you not have a badge case?" Cilan asked, noticing Hilbert's furrowed brow.

Hilbert shook his head. "No. I might have forgotten." Hilbert said.

"Me too…" I followed up, shaking my head as well.

"In that case… Here, let me present you with the official Unova Pokémon League badge case." Cress said, who pulled out two badge cases from a pouch the waitress gave him. He handed one to me and one to Hilbert. " _A sleek black design for Hilbert, and a smooth white one for me… it's kind of fitting._ " I thought, stowing the badge away in the badge case. Hilbert did the same, and we slipped our badge cases into our bags.

"Now that you two bear the Trio Badge, you are now permitted to challenge the rest of the Gyms in any order you'd like. Most trainers just challenge the Gyms in the recommended order, starting from Nacrene Gym, the closest Gym from here, and ending with Opelucid Gym, which is the furthest." Cress said.

"Along with the badges, we would like to bestow some helpful items onto you two." Cress followed up. Cress took a handful of berries from another pouch and placed them in both my and Hilbert's hands. "This is the berry I used earlier, along with two other that correspond to the other two types. The Rindo berry lowers damage from super effective grass type moves, while the Occa berry and Passho berry do the same for fire and water type moves, respectively." Cress added.

"A gift from me, as well." Cilan said, then pulled out two weakness policies and gave us one each. "You should find these useful whenever you're in a bad spot in terms of type disadvantages… I hope you make good use of them." Cilan said, giving us a bow.

"Me too!" Chili said, handing Hilbert and I a gray disc each. "This is the TM, or Technical Machine, for the move work up. You can use these to teach your Pokémon a new move if they can learn it. Try teaching it to your pansage and pansear!" Chili said.

"Are you sure it's okay to give us all these?" I asked. "Of course! It's tradition for the Gym leaders here in Unova to pass on whatever strategies they used against the challenger. The other Gym leaders will have strategies of their own, so be careful!" Chili said.

"Additionally, you'll be able to purchase these items from any Pokémon center around Unova, as well as an expanded stock on regular items. Just show the vendor the Trio badge." Cress followed up.

"Thank you." Hilbert said, placing the gifts in his bag. "That was a really tough battle. I learned a lot from it." Hilbert said, giving Cilan a small smile.

My eyes might have deceived me, but it looked like Cilan blushed at Hilbert's smile. "N-No, it's nothing. It's our responsibility as Gym leaders to give the challenges a fair, but difficult, test." He stuttered. I raised my eyebrow at him.

"N-Now if you'll excuse me. Maxwell!" Cilan cried, dragging the waiter out of the room by the hand as he ran past the curtain.

"What?!" Chili said in surprise.

"Sorry, Chili. Let's go, Tia." Cress said, taking the waitress' hand in his as they walked out of the room.

Chili was standing there, flabbergasted. "So I really am the only single one out of the three of us? Arceus, damn it!" Chili shouted, dramatically looking up into the ceiling. Hilbert and I stared at him before deciding to leave him to grieve alone.

I asked Hilbert something as we walked out of the Gym. "Did you really have to kiss me?" I asked.

Hilbert shrugged. "I figured that was the quickest way to freak Chili out. It worked, didn't it?" Hilbert said, turning away from me.

"You should have told me if you were going to kiss me, you know. Chili wasn't the only one freaked out." I said, turning my nose up at him.

"Sorry. I'll ask next time." Hilbert said, turning back to face me.

I slightly tiptoed up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Call that my revenge. Ehehe." I said, chuckling.

"Hypocrite." Hilbert said, awkwardly turning away.

"You're blushing, aren't you!" I said, poking him in the ribs.

Hilbert flinched. "Yes. Now quit bugging me before I make you regret it." He said, turning to face me. His cheeks were indeed flushed red.

"So adorable!" I said, pinching his cheeks.

"Fine… you can have this." Hilbert said, giving up his resistance. I greedily pinched his adorable cheeks for a few more seconds, then we left to go back to the Pokémon center.

We entered the Pokémon center and got our Pokémon healed, then we took our Pokémon and went upstairs to our room. Bianca and Cheren were still there, lounging around. Bianca was lying on her bed, while Cheren was sitting by the desk.

"You guys! How was it?" Bianca said as we entered the room.

"Tough, but we managed to handle it." I said.

"It was too close." Hilbert said, flopping onto Cheren's bed.

Cheren looked down at Hilbert. "Did they use any specific strategies?" Cheren asked.

Hilbert nodded. "Yes. Cilan surprised me with a weakness policy on his pansage. The unexpected boost in power nearly defeated Torch, but we came out on top." He said.

"Same here, but not really. I thought Cress was going to use a weakness policy too, so I lowered his panpour's defenses to knock it out in one blow. Or, it would have, if that panpour didn't have a Rindo berry instead. And it managed to paralyze Willow! Arceus, that was an unlucky match…" I complained.

"Chili used the weakness policy strategy on me as well. Not to mention that its incinerate burned Lake's Oran berry before she even got to use it." Cheren said, sighing.

"Well… my match was a little different, because Jolts is an electric type. Cilan was the one who fought me since grass resists electric attacks. I tried to paralyze it with Jolts' thunder wave, but Cilan gave it a Lum berry." Bianca said.

Cheren nodded. "Seems like we all had our own share of troubles, but we managed to succeed." He said.

"It was tough, but we managed to pull it off!" I cheered, pumping my fist in the air.

Hilbert raised his head and looked glum. "If the first Gym was this difficult, then the rest should be straight up impossible." He said.

"Don't be like that, Hilbert! I'm sure we can do it." Bianca said, sitting beside Hilbert and giving him a pat on the back.

"Yeah. We just need to get stronger. Both us, and our Pokémon." I said, sitting beside Bianca and running a hand across Hilbert's back.

"I suppose." He said, sighing into a pillow.

"Travel around Unova, fill up the Pokédex, challenge the Gym leaders… sounds like a life I could get used to. Ehehe." I said, giggling.

Cheren adjusted his glasses and nodded. "I'm sure we'll learn all sorts of things." Bianca said. "We'll definitely get stronger, no matter what." He said.

"Hey… What time are you guys leaving for Nacrene City, tomorrow?" Bianca asked.

I put a finger to my chin. "Nacrene City… that's the city after this one, right? I think it was Cress that said there was a Gym there." I said. Bianca nodded in response.

"I'm going to set out tomorrow morning at the earliest." Cheren said.

"Okay… how about you two?" Bianca asked.

Hilbert rose from his slump and properly sat on the bed beside me. "I was planning on taking tomorrow off. There's no reason to rush through this." Hilbert said.

"Lazy." I teased.

"Ugh." Hilbert groaned, placing his palm on his forehead.

"Just kidding. If you're taking tomorrow off, then I'll go with you. We're going to be traveling together, after all." I said, smiling sweetly at Hilbert. He looked back at me and gave me a small, yet gentle smile.

"Thank you." He said.

"I can't blame Hilbert for wanting to take tomorrow off. From the moment he woke up this morning, it's been nothing but action for him." Cheren said.

I nodded. "Yeah. That scuffle with that N person, fighting off the liepard on Route 2, that incident in the Dreamyard, then challenging the Striaton Gym… Wow, you really do deserve a break." I said, recalling today's events.

Hilbert groaned. "Urgh, don't remind me. I sincerely hope not every day as a trainer will be as eventful as today." He said. "Speaking of events… I feel like we're forgetting something." I said. We all sat there in silence, trying to remember what we forgot to do. Then, it hit all of us at once.

"Weren't we supposed to meet that Fennel lady after we cleared the Striaton Gym?!" I said.

"Oh, crap." Hilbert muttered.

Bianca cleared her throat. "Oh, about that… we actually went to Fennel's laboratory while you two were asleep, and she said that she could wait until after you two finished your Gym challenge." She said.

"She's… a little eccentric, but not a bad person." Cheren said.

"Let's not keep her waiting any longer." Hilbert said.

"Yeah. Off to the lab, everyone!" I said. The four of us left the Pokémon center and made our way over to Fennel's laboratory.


	9. Dreams

"Sorry we're late!" Bianca said as she knocked on the door to Fennel's lab.

"Oh, you're here! Amanita, open the door!" An unfamiliar voice said from inside.

"Coming!" Amanita said, then a few seconds later she opened the door. "Welcome back! Hilbert, Hilda, how did your challenge go?" Amanita asked.

Hilda grinned. "We cleared it just fine! Thanks for asking." Hilda said.

"If your definition of 'just fine' is actually 'nearly wiped out', then sure." I said. Hilda glared at me as I smirked at her.

"Let's continue chatting inside. Please." Cheren pleaded. The four of us went inside and took our seats on the couch.

"I've been waiting for you. Welcome to my lab!" The owner of the voice from earlier said. A woman in a lab coat came down from the stairs and bowed at us. Her dark blue hair was unbelievably long, reaching all the way to her calves. A hair clip with a floral design kept her bangs in place, above her left eye.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Fennel, a Pokémon researcher. My field of study is actually Pokémon trainers such as yourselves!" Fennel said.

Cheren and I gave each other an uneasy look, then went back to looking at Fennel. "Good evening… Dr. Fennel." I said, looking at Dr. Fennel.

Dr. Fennel looked surprised, then shook her head with a smile as she adjusted her glasses. "Ah, did Aurea tell you?" Dr. Fennel asked.

"I read about it in a book. It seems as though your current topic of research is a recent one." I said. Cheren looked pensive, while Bianca and Hilda just looked confused.

"Hilbert?" Hilda asked, looking at me.

"Allow me to explain for the rest." Dr. Fennel said. "Officially, I'm known as Dr. Fennel Oryse. I graduated from the Aspertia University along with Professor Aurea Juniper." Dr. Fennel continued.

Cheren's eyes widened. "Aspertia U? I've always wanted to go there…" He said.

"It's one of the best educational institutions in Unova. Most, if not all scholarly types and researchers come from there." Dr. Fennel said.

"What's Aspertia University?" Hilda asked, looking lost.

Cheren cleared his throat. "Aspertia University is a university that focuses on teaching the ins and outs of Pokémon theory, history, biology, psychology and engineering. It covers most topics that surround Pokémon, and is considered to be one of the top universities around the world." Cheren said.

"Wow, something like that is here in Unova? That's so cool…" Hilda said, her eyes sparkling.

"Didn't think you were an academic, Hilda." I said, snickering.

"What's that supposed to mean? You picking a fight?" Hilda said, glaring at me.

Dr. Fennel placed a palm to her cheek. "Haha… Aurea was right about you two." She said.

Cheren cleared his throat again. "Incidentally, some other highly regarded academic institutions around the world are the Canalave Institute of Technology in Sinnoh, and Mossdeep University in Hoenn." Cheren said.

I nodded. "Mossdeep City is full of students and researchers alike. It's also the home of Mossdeep Space Center." I explained.

Hilda looked up at the ceiling."I think I've heard about the CIT back in Sinnoh. I never got to visit Canalave City, though." She said.

"I had the opportunity to visit Mossdeep University on my sabbatical. It's a wonderful place for an academic like myself!" The doctor said, grinning at the memory.

"Anyway, back to the main topic. Aurea told me that there would be some new trainers starting their journey, so I asked her to have them help me with my research." Dr. Fennel said. "Any guess as to who those trainers are? You have three chances!" Dr. Fennel said.

There was a moment of silence... until Cheren broke it. "...Us, I would guess." Cheren said, sighing.

"Very good, uh…" Dr. Fennel said. "I suppose I should have you guys introduce yourselves." She said, awkwardly laughing.

"My name is Cheren Wright."

"I'm Bianca Bell!"

"Hilda Whitley, here!"

"Hilbert Blake."

We introduced ourselves one after the other. "My, my. Quite the colorful - monochrome? - group we have here!" Dr. Fennel said, making a pun. "Anyway… Very good, Cheren! Those trainers would be you." Dr. Fennel said, shaking Cheren's hand.

"Does this research have to do with your old field of study, or your current one?" I asked.

"A little bit of both. You see, the reason why Amanita and I are in Striation City right now is because of the Dreamyard." Dr. Fennel said. I raised an eyebrow, but Cheren looked at me, as if telling me to stay silent. "You see, I'm currently researching dreams!" Dr. Fennel said, puffing her chest out. " _Must run in the family._ " I thought.

"Dreams?" Bianca asked.

Dr. Fennel nodded. "Yes. My research has led me to believe that the dreams of Pokémon and their trainers are quite powerful, and contain a lot of information about the Pokémon, their trainer and even their bond." She said. She walked over to a messy table and pulled out a clipboard.

"Dreams are quite fascinating; they often reveal - or give hints as to - the subconscious of a Pokémon and a human. By analyzing their dreams, we can deeper understand the bond between human and Pokémon." Dr. Fennel said, not looking up from her keyboard.

"My current project is called the Dream World." Dr. Fennel said. "The Dream World is a simulation that allows us to access, and even interact with, the dreams of Pokémon. In the Dream World, we can interact with the sleeping Pokémon in various ways - building them a house, cultivating a garden or even encountering wild Pokémon in their dreams!" She excitedly explained, looking up from her clipboard occasionally.

The four of us there sat in silence, listening to Dr. Fennel ramble on. "This stuff sounds a little far fetched, but she seems completely serious about it." Hilda whispered to me.

"I'm inclined to believe her. Let's keep listening." I said, then we looked back at Dr. Fennel. I glanced at Cheren, and he seemed completely mesmerized by Dr. Fennel's words. Bianca just looked confused.

"I have a question." Cheren asked. "Is there a way for what we do in the Pokémon's dreams to affect our reality in some way?" He asked.

"Very good question, Cheren! Yes, there is. Have you heard of the Entralink?" Dr. Fennel asked.

Cheren adjusted his glasses. "I've read about it. It's the mysterious island in the center of Unova, right? It's supposedly extremely difficult to even get to." He said.

"That's correct. The Entralink is a place shrouded in mystery, but my preliminary tests with the Dream World showed that the Entralink is linked to Pokémon's dreams. In layman's terms, what I did in the Pokémon's dreams was reflected in the Entralink." Dr. Fennel said, then pulled out a berry from a pouch inside a desk drawer. "I planted this berry in a Pokémon's dream, and when it grew in the dream, I was able to find it in the Entralink." Dr. Fennel said. "This is no coincidence either, because I'd visited the Entralink prior to planting the berry, and there was no berry there." She continued.

"Wait, you've been to the Entralink? Isn't it supposed to be difficult to even reach?" Cheren asked.

"I suppose I should be more specific. North of the Entralink is an area called the Entree Forest. I was able to get into contact with Mayor Drayden of Opelucid City in order to have an artificial path constructed to reach the Entree Forest." Dr. Fennel said.

My eyes widened. "Just how much influence do you have…?" I asked.

Dr. Fennel chuckled. "Hahaha, there are only a handful of us with the title of doctor around Unova, and even less with the title of professor. Let's just say that people are all too willing to cooperate with our requests if it means that we can further understand Pokémon." She said.

I felt a migraine coming on. "I see. Continue, please." I said, gripping my forehead.

Hilda ran her hand across my back. "It's okay. I'm here for you." She said, sensing my distress. I sighed and tried to go back to listening.

" _Does that mean the professor has even more influence than Dr. Fennel? That slob?_ "

"I'm a little lost. How can we help with your research, Doctor?" Bianca asked, clearly out of it.

"Getting straight to the point, aren't we?" Dr. Fennel asked. "Well, you see, to power up the device that lets us see into a Pokémon's dreams, I need a material called dream mist." Dr. Fennel said.

"Dream mist?" Cheren asked.

"Dream mist is a material that allows us to 'weave the fabric of dreams', so to speak." The doctor said, using air quotes as emphasis. "Hilbert, did you read one of the books I was featured in?" Dr. Fennel asked.

I nodded in response. "Yes. I had the opportunity at the trainer's school." I said.

"Then you must already know that I used to work at the facility that was destroyed, and is now known as the Dreamyard." Dr. Fennel said, a sad look in her eyes.

"You did?!" Hilda exclaimed.

Dr. Fennel looked down at her feet. "Yes. I was lucky to get out of there with my life." She said. "But that's all in the past now. Have you heard of the Pokémon munna and musharna?" Dr. Fennel asked.

"Yes. We encountered them yesterday while training in the Dreamyard." Cheren said.

Dr. Fennel smiled brightly. "Wow, you guys are on top of things! Aurea really was right about you." She said.

"I hope, for her sake, that she didn't say anything bad about us." I muttered.

Dr. Fennel must have caught that, because she chuckled. "I suppose there's no harm in gossipping a bit. The descriptions Aurea gave me about you were…" Dr. Fennel said, then flipped a few pages on her clipboard. "Four trainers. One of them feisty, another airheaded, the third one stuck up, and the last one overbearing. Not the best descriptions, but they sure are accurate!" She continued.

I felt a vein pop out on my temple. "And just who is that someone overbearing?" I asked, nearly gritting my teeth. Hilda and Cheren, sensing danger, put her hand over my mouth and restrained my arms, respectively.

"Ehehe, I bet she was just joking. Right, Cheren?" Hilda asked, clearly very nervous.

"Er… Right. Professor Juniper is fond of those jokes, after all." Cheren replied, also clearly very nervous.

Dr. Fennel watched the scene with piqued interest. "What's the relationship between Aurea and Hilbert? Is Aurea like his mother?" She asked.

Bianca awkwardly laughed. "Kind of the other way around, really… Whenever Hilbert and I run into each other when helping out at the lab, he's constantly nagging at Professor Juniper to organize her desk or to clean the messes she makes. It never works, and usually he has to do those himself." She explained.

Dr. Fennel gulped. "I know firsthand just how messy Aurea can be… I was her roommate in university, after all. Whenever she's in a good mood, she leaves a trail of disaster in her wake…" Dr. Fennel said, grimacing at the memory. "Anyway, let's stop gossipping about Aurea." She said.

"I'd like you four to go to the Dreamyard and obtain some dream mist from a munna or musharna. If you could find the munna and musharna you met earlier, then that would be great. Munna and musharna do not give dream mist to trainers they don't trust." Dr. Fennel said.

Amanita, who was quietly listening to our discussion, got up from her seat and whispered something into Dr. Fennel's ear. The doctor nodded and flipped her clipboard again, then Amanita went back to her seat over by her table. "Mm… Actually, I might need to have you split up into two groups." Dr. Fennel said.

"Two groups?" Hilda asked.

"Yes. Getting the dream mist is just one part of this experiment. We would like to see the difference between the dreams of a Pokémon that has just come out of a battle as compared to the dreams of a Pokémon that is well rested." Dr. Fennel explained.

"Interesting. What kind of difference would there be?" Cheren asked.

"A Pokémon battle can be described as the way by which Pokémon and trainer are connected the deepest. The trainer gives their command, while the Pokémon follows. On the trainer's part, it is their responsibility to assess the situation and pick the action that would have the best chance of victory. On the Pokémon's part, it is their responsibility to heed the wishes of their trainer and perform their actions the best they can." Dr. Fennel said.

"It is why wild Pokémon battles are so much more vicious than trainer battles. Those Pokémon fight using only their instincts to guide them; mind you, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but a Pokémon's instincts may cause them to perform actions that may not be best suited to the current situation. Another responsibility of the trainer is to reel their Pokémon's instincts in, and command them such that they achieve the best possible outcome for both Pokémon and trainer." She continued.

"The bond between Pokémon and their trainers, as stated earlier, can be examined through their dreams. It's my hypothesis that the dreams of a Pokémon fresh out of battle are more vivid and can reveal more about who they are." Dr. Fennel said, finally placing her clipboard down.

" _The bond between Pokémon and trainers…_ " I thought, listening to the doctor's words. Hilda, Bianca and Cheren all looked lost in thought as they mulled over the doctor's words. "Back to the main topic. I'd like for two of you to go to the Dreamyard, and the other two to engage in a Pokémon battle here. Once the Dreamyard group returns with the dream mist, the Pokémon that had just battled here will have their dreams examined posthaste." Dr. Fennel said.

"Which begs the question… Who goes where?" I summed up.

"Cheren, remember our agreement?" Hilda said. I raised my eyebrow at her.

"Yes. That we'd have a Pokémon battle after we both cleared the Striaton Gym." Cheren said, adjusting his glasses.

"Hilbert, is it okay if Cheren and I stayed here while you and Bianca went to the Dreamyard?" Hilda asked, looking into my eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked.

Hilda sighed. "You're right. I shouldn't have asked." She said.

Cheren nodded. "Alright, it's settled then." He said.

Bianca stood up and stretched her arms. "I wanted to go to the Dreamyard, anyway. Munna might trust me, maybe." Bianca said.

"Mm. Let's go, Bianca." I said, standing up to leave.

"Let's go!" Bianca said as she dragged me out of the lab.

Eventually, we made our way outside the ruined facility. Bianca looked winded from running there. Admittedly, I was winded as well. "I need to exercise more…" Bianca said, groaning.

"Me too…" I said, catching my breath by a tree.

After I caught my breath, I looked up at the night sky. It was clear, not a single cloud in sight. Stars littered the sky, and the full moon's light shone onto the ground beneath it. " _Just like in Dewford…_ " I thought.

"Ah… It's been a while since I last saw the sky like this." Bianca said, looking up at the sky with me.

"Really?" I asked.

Bianca nodded and hummed. "Yeah. I'm usually cooped up at home at night, watching a movie. Either that, or I'm at Professor Juniper's lab helping out." Bianca said.

"Mm. I suppose I'm the same. Normally, I'd be washing dishes or watching TV." I said.

Bianca giggled. "Cheren would probably be cooped up in his books, while Hilda's usually… What does she do at night?" She asked.

I gulped, knowing that Hilda spent most of her nights at my house. "No idea." I lied.

"Do you think you'll get homesick? You've lived in Nuvema all your life." I asked.

"I don't know… It's too early to tell. I'll feel it when I feel it, I guess." Bianca said, giggling.

"I suppose. I don't think I'll feel too homesick, though." I said.

Bianca looked at me. "Why is that?" She asked.

"My mom likes to joke that the reason we moved to Dewford is because when I was still really young, I'd go off and play with the wild Pokémon in the grass around where we used to live." I said.

"Oh, you lived somewhere before living in Dewford Town? That's the first I've heard of it." Bianca said.

I nodded. "I suppose I really only told it to Cheren, but I was born in a place called Rustboro City." I said.

"Really? What's it like there?" Bianca said, stars in her eyes.

"It's kind of similar to Striaton. A medium-sized city with a trainer's school. Though, it does have the headquarters of the Devon Corporation." I said.

"The Devon Corporation?" Bianca asked.

"It's one of the biggest companies in Hoenn. If you've heard of the Silph Company in Kanto, then they're basically the same thing." I said.

Bianca looked back up at the sky. "I see… even though it's been five years since you last lived in Hoenn, it seems like you really valued your time there!" She said.

"Mm. It was a good childhood. I still try to keep in touch with my friends from there." I said.

"Really? You can do that?" Bianca asked.

I nodded. "Before we left, a friend at the Devon Corporation gave me something to make sure that we'd always keep in touch. I'll show you later." I said.

"Yeah. We have something to do here, after all." Bianca said, then smiled at me.

I nodded once more. "Let's get the dream mist." I said.

Bianca and I entered the facility. "It's so dark, even with the moonlight." I said.

Bianca had a strangely excited look in her eyes. "It's almost creepy… I wonder if there are any ghosts here." She said.

"Weren't we just here a few hours ago?" I asked, exasperated.

"Maybe the ghosts come out at night?" She asked, clearly unfettered. I groaned and kept walking.

"I see something over there." I said, gesturing at Bianca to stop walking.

We hid behind a nearby pillar and peeked our heads out from behind it. There, we saw a munna - possibly the munna from earlier - wandering around, alone. "Bianca. Is that the munna from earlier?" I asked.

Bianca nodded. "Yes, that's her. I wonder what she's doing out here?" She said.

I took a closer look at munna's expression. "Does she look terrified to you?" I asked.

Bianca's face went pale. "That's the same expression she had when we found her… what's happening here?" She said. Munna was still floating around, her eyes darting everywhere.

All of a sudden, loud footsteps could be heard in the direction of the stairs leading underground. I raised my direction and turned my gaze to the direction of the footsteps. "Damn, there's a wall here!" A voice said.

I looked at Bianca, and she seemed panicked. "Not for long. These bricks seem loose, so let's just blow our way through!" Another voice said.

We heard a loud crash, then all of a sudden the wall we were staring at exploded into a pile of rubble. Two strangely dressed men came out of the hole in the wall and ran behind the stairs, making their way over to the area we were in. "Do they look familiar to you?" I asked.

Bianca gulped. "Back in Accumula Town… they're dressed just like the ones who were standing behind that man who gave the speech." She said.

" _Team Plasma is here. Why?_ "

Munna must have heard the wall busting open and froze in fear, staring at the members of Team Plasma. Before we could even react, they came out from the back of the facility and started running to munna. Bianca and I nodded at each other and ran out from behind the pillar, in front of munna.

"Who the hell are you two?!" The Team Plasma grunt on the left asked, rather aggressively.

"Just two trainers passing by. You?" I nonchalantly asked.

The Team Plasma grunt scoffed. "We're members of Team Plasma, fighting to liberate Pokémon from scum like you!" The one on the right replied.

My right eye twitched, and I glared at the grunt on the right. "Scum?" I asked, gritting my teeth.

The Team Plasma grunt must have been intimidated, as he flinched and took a step back. "Yes, scum like you! Scum that imprison Pokémon and call them their masters!" He said, not relenting.

I looked back at Munna and she seemed absolutely terrified by these two. I kneeled down to inspect her and noticed that her body was covered in bruises. "These bruises weren't here before. Do you two know anything about it?" I said, standing up to look at them.

The grunts nervously looked at each other and glared at me. "Yes! We found that munna earlier, and tried to get its dream mist." The grunt on the left nervously said.

I felt my glare growing stronger. It must have freaked the grunts out, because they flinched again. "And just how did you try to get her dream mist… that it left bruises on her?" I asked, my teeth gritted and my right eye twitching.

"It wouldn't give it to us when we asked kindly, so we tried to take it by force!" The grunt on the left said, doing a kicking motion with his feet.

I felt something within me snap.

" _These… monsters abused an innocent munna? Unforgivable._ "

I could feel my vision reddening as I glared at the Team Plasma grunts. No, glare wasn't the right term for it anymore. I was staring at them as if they were scum on the bottom of my shoe.

The grunts looked visibly unnerved now. "H-Hey… Just give us the munna, and you guys can go free." The grunt on the left said, visibly shaken.

Bianca looked nervously at me, but I stared them down. "You're keeping us here? I didn't notice." I said.

The grunts quickly shared a look between themselves. "Y-Yeah, we are! If you don't let that munna go, then our Pokémon are going to have something to say about it!" The grunt said, taking out a Pokéball.

I sneered at them. "Telling us we're the scum of the earth for being trainers, and being trainers yourselves? Your organization is full of hypocrites." I said.

The grunt looked fired up at my words. "These Pokémon agree with our ideals! Once Team Plasma achieves its goals, we'll release them back into the wild!" He said.

Bianca and I took a Pokéball from our bag, and the other grunt took out a Pokéball as well. "Bianca. I'll take the one on the left." I said, then ran to the left, away from Bianca. Munna stayed behind Bianca, cowering in fear.

"Come back here!" The grunt said as he chased after me.

The grunt caught up and stood a few meters across from me. He threw a Pokéball onto the ground, revealing a patrat. "We're fighting to liberate Pokémon, and I'm going to start with you! Release your Pokémon, you demon!" The grunt said, angrily glaring at me.

My glare faded as I broke out into a laugh. "Scum, and now demon? I'm getting called all sorts of names today, aren't I?" I said, laughing. "My name is Hilbert Blake. Tell your 'friends' over at Team Plasma that I'm coming for you." I said, then threw my own Pokéball onto the ground. Ace came out, looking ready to battle.

The grunt stared at me in shock from my sudden declaration, giving me an opening to attack. "Too slow. Ace, start off with a leer." I said. Ace stared Patrat down, causing it to nervously look from side to side.

"Tch, don't fall for their cheap tactics! Patrat, use scratch!" The grunt said. Patrat shook off the intimidation and lunged at Ace with its claws in the air. Patrat brought its claws down on Ace, slashing at his head. Ace winced from the pain, but still looked ready to fight.

"Not good enough. Ace, tackle it." I said. Ace reared back and slammed his body into Patrat, sending it flying back to its trainer.

"You demon! You would knowingly hurt a Pokémon that's fighting to liberate its own kind?!" The grunt shouted.

"Shut your mouth, you hypocrite." I said, sneering at him.

"You'll pay for that! Patrat, use scratch again!" The grunt said. Patrat got to its feet and ran towards Ace again, its claw high in the air. Patrat brought it down on Ace's torso, Ace noticeably recoiling from the pain.

"Your Pokémon is well trained." I said.

"Only the finest for those that support our ideals!" The grunt said.

I sighed. " _Hypocrites, the lot of them._ " I thought. "Ace, finish this battle. Tackle it into the ground." I said. Ace leaped up into the air and barreled towards Patrat, sending them both crashing into the ground. Ace leaped off of Patrat's body and dusted his fur. Patrat was twitching, and could no longer stand.

I looked over at Bianca's battle, and it seemed that Coco had just defeated the other grunt's purrloin. " _Another purrloin. This has to be a joke._ " I thought. Both grunts looked at each other in panic. "We both lost?! To scum like them?" One of them said.

"Stop calling us scum… please..." Bianca pleaded, tears in her eyes.

"It doesn't matter that we lost. We need to get that dream mist!" The grunt said, then immediately ran past Bianca and grabbed Munna.

The grunt raised Munna in the air and started punching it, trying to force the dream mist out. "Munna!" Bianca cried out, trying to restrain the grunt.

Munna cried out every time the grunt punched it. A new mark was left on its body with each punch, eventually leaving Munna with more dark spots than floral patterns. Bianca grabbed at the grunt's arm, trying to get him to stop. "Stop! Please!" Bianca pleaded, tears flowing down her face.

" _Monsters. Hypocrites. Scum._ "

The scum that was punching Munna wasn't letting up, even through Bianca's pleading. The other scum was watching the scene with nervousness, but didn't do anything to stop his partner.

" _Unbelievable. This is enough._ "

I walked up to the scum and stopped in front of his face. I looked at Munna. " _She's hurting. She wants help. Don't worry._ " I thought. The scum stopped punching Munna and looked at me confusedly. "The hell do you want? I'll stop once we get the dream mi- waugh?!" The scum tried to say, but I cut him off.

The scum dropped Munna and reeled back in pain. "What was that for?! You brute!" He said, grabbing the side of his head. I looked over at my extended fist.

" _Punching someone hurts._ "

My knuckles felt raw, as if I'd punched a wall instead of someone's face. " _That doesn't matter. He deserved it._ " I affirmed to myself.

I stared at the scum as his partner tried to nurse his wounds. Bianca kneeled down and immediately started spraying Munna with a potion, removing the unsightly blemishes from her body. Munna cried out in happiness and dove into Bianca's chest, who in return hugged Munna as close to her as possible.

"You'll pay for this! I'll report you to the police!" The scum that I punched spat through his teeth.

"I'm sure they would love to hear my story as well. Members of a group aiming to liberate Pokémon abusing them instead. How does that sound?" I threatened back.

The scum winced at my threat, but glared back at me. "It wasn't abuse! We were simply trying to extract the dream mist!" He said.

I scoffed. "Bianca, what do you think?" I asked. Bianca looked at the scum and sighed.

"I think you two are horrible for what you did to Munna! She didn't do anything to you!" Bianca said, tears still flowing down her face.

"It doesn't matter! We need the dream mist to achieve our goals! Now, give us the dream mist!" The scum said, then charged back at us. Bianca hugged Munna close to her chest, but I was having none of it anymore.

I took out my other two Pokéballs and sent Blade and Torch out by my feet. Ace, who was watching the situation, took his place beside my partners. "Get any closer, and these three will get up close and personal with you." I said, pointing at the scum. Blade and Torch looked confused, but Ace filled them in. Soon after, they looked as furious as Ace did, and leered at the scum.

"Blade. Fire a water gun at their feet." I said. Blade nodded and let loose a powerful water gun, just barely missing the scum.

"Wh-whoa! What the hell are you doing?!" The scum said. "Next time, he won't miss. And the rest will join in." I said, scowling at the scum. "Hilbert, please… you're taking this too far…" Bianca said, looking up at me. The tears from her eyes had dried.

"I'm doing this for Munna. They beat her black and blue, and I'm a firm believer of 'an eye for an eye'." I said.

"Eek!" The scum cried out, scrambling backwards.

"Munna… please…." Bianca said, looking down at Munna. "Mun…" Munna moaned, now looking up at me. " _She's telling me to stop? Why?_ " I thought.

The scum must have noticed my expression changing, because they scrambled to their feet and recalled their Pokémon. "You got off lucky! Next time, you'll be the one begging for mercy!" The scum I punched said then ran away, out of the Dreamyard. The other scum stood there, frozen in fear.

"If my name makes the headlines tomorrow, I'll make sure your organization does too. Leave." I said. The scum flinched and followed his partner out of the Dreamyard.

I sighed, letting all the tension leave my shoulders. I looked down at Munna and Bianca, who looked terrified. "I'm sorry you had to see that." I said, deeply exhaling.

"Hilbert… Munna wants to thank you." Bianca said, then let Munna go from her grasp.

Munna floated towards me and affectionately nuzzled my leg, perhaps thanking me. "It's nothing. I couldn't overlook what those scum did to you." I said, rubbing Munna on the head.

Munna floated back to Bianca, who hugged her close to her body again. "You really scared me there, Hilbert." Bianca said. "To use your Pokémon to threaten others, even if it was for the sake of Munna… it was really scary, you know?" She continued.

"I did what I had to do. They kept fighting even though their Pokémon were fainted." I said.

"You even punched one of them… seriously, Hilbert, you were super scary." Bianca said.

I looked down at my fist, which was now starting to bruise. "He pissed me off." I said.

"It just makes me glad, you know? That you were willing to go so far for Munna." Bianca said, smiling at me. The smile faded as quick as it appeared, replaced by a look of worry. "But it scares me. Be careful… okay?" Bianca said.

I looked back at my fist, and lowered it to my side. "...I'll try." I said.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me." Bianca said, smiling. I tried to smile back at her, but I couldn't find the energy to even change my expression.

"Musha…" A familiar voice said, coming from where the grunts had originally come from. "Musharna?" Bianca said, then looked in the direction of where the voice came from. Musharna came into view, floating towards us. Bianca let go of Munna, who in turn floated quickly towards Musharna. Musharna straightened its body and let Munna in, hugging her close as she curled back up.

Bianca and I watched the scene in silence. Musharna let out some dream mist from its forehead and brought it to Munna, apparently nursing her wounds. "Mun…" Munna moaned. Musharna opened its eyes at Munna, while Munna looked over at Bianca. Musharna let Munna go, then Munna floated over to Bianca. Munna nuzzled Bianca's bag, apparently looking for something.

" _I see, she…_ " I said, then Bianca vocalized my thoughts. "Do you want to join me, Munna?" Bianca asked. Munna happily bobbed up and down, while Musharna floated contentedly in the air. Bianca smiled at Munna, then took a Pokéball out from her bag. She pressed it against Munna's forehead, who dissipated into a bright red light as the Pokéball absorbed her. The Pokéball shook three times then stopped shaking, signaling Munna's capture.

Bianca sent Munna back out, who immediately nuzzled her leg. "Thank you, Munna… I think I'm going to name you Dream." Bianca said. Dream happily bobbed up and down. Musharna floated over to Bianca and Dream and rubbed its head on both of them. "Thank you, Musharna. I'll make sure to keep her safe." Bianca said. Musharna let out a happy noise, then floated away. Bianca and Dream waved at Musharna as it left, while I watched in silence.

I looked down at my partners and returned them to their Pokéballs. Sighing, I turned on my heel and started walking towards the exit. "Hilbert? Where are you going?" Bianca said.

"...Nowhere. Head back to the lab with Dream. I'll catch up." I said.

I looked at Bianca, and she looked at me with worry. "...Be safe, okay?" She said.

I placed my hands in my pockets and walked out of the facility, the moonlight barely illuminating my path.

* * *

"Alright, how do you want to do this?" I asked Cheren, right after Hilbert and Bianca left. "

You only have two Pokémon, right?" Cheren asked. I nodded in affirmation. "To make this fair, let's have a two on two singles battle. Held items only." Cheren said.

"So, no potions, Got it." I said.

I looked over at Fennel. "Are you sure we can have the battle here? We might mess things up. It wouldn't be the first time…" I said, recalling how we trashed Hilbert's room yesterday - and how we had to pay for it.

Fennel smiled at us. "Yep! We can fix everything up as long as the place isn't burned down." She said.

Cheren cleared his throat. "Maybe we should take this outside."

I sighed. "That seems like it's for the best." I said.

"If you really want to have your battle outside, then here." Amanita said, then unlocked the door beside the stairs. "This leads to a back-alley where no one really stays, so it should be fine to have your battle there." She said.

"That's perfect. Thank you, Amanita!" I said.

"Thank you." Cheren said. Cheren and I went outside the lab and into the back-alley.

"It's pretty dark, isn't it." I said. "Seriously, would it kill to put a street lamp here?!" I complained.

Cheren shrugged. "The moonlight is probably enough. The full moon is out tonight, too." Cheren said, pointing up at the moon.

"Huh, I guess you're right. It's been a while since I last saw the full moon." I said, looking up at the moon.

"My study table is right beside my window, so I get to watch the night sky practically every night." Cheren said.

"That sounds nice. I'm rarely by my window, or in my room at all…" I said, sighing. "I suppose you do spend most of your time at Bianca's." Cheren said.

I felt myself sweat internally, as it wasn't Bianca's house I was spending all my time at. Nevertheless, I went with it. "It's basically my second home there! I'm too busy chatting the night away with her than staring out the window." I said.

"Cheren, I have a question." I said. "Was the Striation Gym challenging for you? How close was the fight?" I asked.

"It was challenging for sure, but I never felt like I was in danger of losing." Cheren said. "Chili's weakness policy tripped me up, but we managed to win." He said.

I looked down. "I see. I guess that's to be expected of you, ehe…" I said.

"Why? Did you nearly lose?" Cheren asked, looking at me.

"...It was close. Too close." I said, sighing wistfully.

Cheren pensively looked at me. "I don't think your strategy was a particularly bad one. I would say it's the best thing you could have done in your situation." He said.

"But I nearly lost!" I said, balling my fists at my sides.

"Nearly." Cheren said, then crossed his arms. "Hilda, there's this old book I once read. It's supposedly written by a foreign general and a master of tactics." He continued.

"Where are you going with this?" I asked.

"There's this one quote that stood out to me. It went something like… If you know the enemy and know yourself, then you will always find victory. If you don't know the enemy, but know yourself, your chances of winning and losing are roughly the same. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, then your loss is all but guaranteed." He said.

"And how does that apply to my situation?" I asked, wanting him to get on with it.

Cheren sighed. "You knew yourself well enough to make a plan that could have guaranteed your victory against an enemy with a weakness policy. Unfortunately, you didn't know the tactics of your enemy, so the battle could have ended either way." He said. "You had a chance of losing that battle, but you still won. Don't beat yourself up over it. Or would you rather you lost, instead?"

"I guess so…" I said, sighing. "Thanks, Cheren. I mean it." I said, smiling at him.

"No need to thank me. Just show me what you've got in battle. And just to be clear… I'm sure that I know myself, but I don't know you. And I'm sure it's the same for you. Our chances of winning are about the same, so show me what you've got, Hilda!" Cheren said, then took a Pokéball out from his bag.

I took a Pokéball out of my bag and looked at Cheren with a glint in my eye. "Let's do this. No hard feelings if I win, okay?" I said.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Let's begin!" Cheren said, then Pokéballs flew onto the ground.

Willow, my pansage, and Lake, Cheren's panpour, appeared by our feet. Willow and Lake looked at each other curiously, then immediately understood what was about to happen. "I know you two are friends, but now it's time to show each other how much stronger you've gotten." I said, reassuring Willow. Willow looked up at me and gave me a tentative thumbs up.

I snuck an Oran berry into Willow's fur. "Don't let Cheren notice." I said. I looked over Lake from top to bottom trying to figure out what item she was holding, but couldn't figure where. " _Darn… guess we'll have to scout it out._ " I thought.

"I might be at a type disadvantage, but here's where I'll put what I learned to the Gym to the test! Now Lake, use fury swipes!"

"Willow, use leer!"

Before Lake could even move, Willow immediately leered at her, intimidating the panpour. " _Seems I have the speed advantage. That's good._ " I thought, making sure to remember that information. Lake shook the intimidation off and charged at Willow, slashing away at her torso.

I let out a deep exhale and watched the attack. "Alright. Willow, play nice with her!" I said. Cheren raised an eyebrow at my command. Willow grabbed Lake's hands and started playing with her, dancing around the alley.

Lake looked confused, but played along. "...I see." Cheren said, then adjusted his glasses.

" _Just covering my bases…_ " I thought. "Lake, attack with fury swipes once more!" Cheren said. Lake stopped playing with Willow and slashed at her body, however her attacks didn't seem to hurt as much as the earlier one.

"An attack that lowers offenses… you're covering your bases in case I have a weakness policy on, aren't you?" Cheren said.

"Why would I tell you my strategy? Maybe I just want to stall this out." I said, smirking. Cheren returned with a smirk of his own and went back to watching the battle.

Willow reached into her fur and ate the Oran berry, replenishing her health. "Good job, Willow. Now, it's the moment of truth. Slam her with a vine whip!" I said, pointing at Lake. Willow raised her tail and brought it down on Lake, slamming her into the ground. The attack seemed to have done significant damage, but a familiar light shone from Lake's fur.

"A weakness policy." I said. The red aura from Cilan's Pansage earlier was now emanating from Lake, but now it seemed less effective.

"Good call, lowering Lake's attack. But with the weakness policy, her attacks are still going to leave a mark! Now, use a water gun!" Cheren said. Lake stepped back and let a powerful water gun loose from her mouth, fully blasting at Willow.

Willow staggered back in pain from the impact. " _For a resisted hit, that did a lot of damage… it's because playing nice only reduces physical offenses._ " I thought, gritting my teeth. Cheren must have noticed, because he shot me another smirk. "It doesn't matter if Willow resists the hit or not. Lake's offenses have skyrocketed!" He said.

"You can't use those offenses if you're knocked out. Willow, attack with another vine whip!" I said. Willow got to her feet and slammed her tail against Lake, thoroughly sending her flying against a wall. Willow managed to get up, but she was wobbly on her feet.

"That leer from earlier lowered her defenses… Damn!" Cheren said. "It doesn't matter! Lake, fire another water gun!" Cheren said. Lake obliged and barraged Willow with another powerful water gun, knocking her onto her back.

Willow managed to get back up, but she looked a little unsteady on her feet as well. "Don't take it lying down, Willow! Finish her off with a vine whip!" I said.

Willow lunged at Lake and brought her tail down on the panpour once more, slamming her into the ground. Lake attempted to get up, but could no longer get to her feet. Cheren sighed and returned Lake to her Pokéball. "Admirable work, Lake." He said, returning her Pokéball to his bag.

Cheren took out another Pokéball and threw it in front of him. His starter, Crown, came out, a smug look plastered all over its tiny face. " _I could almost call it adorable if it didn't piss me off…_ " I thought, glaring at Crown. Crown simply turned up his nose at me. " _I'll have Smokey wipe that smug look off your face, you piece of sh-_ " I thought, then realizing I was cursing a friend's partner. " _Oops. Didn't sound like myself there…_ " I thought.

I shook the thoughts off and concentrated on the battle. Willow looked winded, but was still good to go. " _Willow looks tired… let's try to wear Crown down as much as we can."_ I thought. I clapped my cheeks and looked at Willow.

"Willow, try to paralyze it with lick!"

"Crown, tackle it into the ground!"

Our Pokémon barreled towards each other, but it seems Willow was slightly faster. She ran her tongue up Crown's body, attempting to paralyze it. The paralysis didn't seem to stick, as Crown slammed his body into Willow. Willow was knocked onto the ground, then she slowly got to her feet. " _She looks even more unsteady now. Please, let this happen…_ " I thought, then pointed at Crown.

"Willow, once more! Try to paralyze it!" I said. Willow dashed towards Crown and licked him again, causing Crown to flinch in surprise. It seemed to do a little damage, but what I was going for - the paralysis - didn't stick.

"Enough of this! Crown, finish her off with a tackle!" Cheren said. Crown lowered his head and slammed it into Willow, sending her flying.

Willow landed in front of me, unable to stand. I smiled and returned her to her Pokéball. "Good job, Willow. I'll make sure we win this for you." I said.

I took out a Pokéball and threw it onto the ground. Smokey came out, peppy and ready to fight. " _Since the weakness policy was used on Lake, that means that Crown must have the berry. Let's waste it!"_ I thought. "Crown, open with a tackle!" Cheren said. Crown lunged towards Smokey and slammed his body into her, dealing decent damage to her.

"Now! Smokey, blast him with ember!" I said. Smokey breathed in and let loose a barrage of embers onto Crown. To my surprise, Crown didn't eat a berry to lower the damage. Instead, what happened was…

"He's glowing?!" I exclaimed. The familiar coupon was in Crown's hand, disappearing into light. Crown glowed with the same red aura as Lake, immediately looking much more smug.

"He had a weakness policy too?!" I shouted.

Cheren laughed. "I thought to lull you into a false sense of security by making you think I only had one weakness policy. It seems it worked." He said.

I gritted my teeth. "That's not going to save you. Smokey, use-"

"Crown, use growth!" Cheren said. The leaves on Crown's body suddenly looked much more vivid, and the red aura emanating from her grew more intense.

" _Tch, a status boosting move… It doesn't matter. Time to use that new move Smokey learned after defeating Cress._ " I thought. "Smokey, speed up with flame charge!" I said, pointing at Crown. Fire began to grow from Smokey's body as she slammed it into Crown, causing him to reel back in pain.

"A new move?!" Cheren said, flabbergasted. I smirked. "I hope you know what this one does." I said. The flames disappeared from Smokey's body, but some of them remained by her feet.

"I suppose, but that doesn't matter! Crown, continue tackling her!" Cheren said. "Too slow! Smokey, use flame charge again!" I said. Crown tried to tackle Smokey, but unlike before, Smokey was faster. The flames by Smokey's feet seemed to have made her faster than before.

Smokey slammed into Crown with the flames from before wreathing her body, threatening to burn Crown to a crisp. "What?!" Cheren said.

" _It's working! This strategy is working!_ " I thought, internally cheering. I looked back at Crown, and he was now glowing with a vivid green aura. " _Overgrow… this might be trouble._ " I gulped.

"Even through the precautions I set up because of my type disadvantage, you're still putting up a good fight…" Cheren said.

"The battle isn't over yet! Smokey, attack with flame charge again!" I said. The flames grew from Smokey's body once more then she tackled Crown, causing him to fall on his back.

"Retaliate with a vine whip!" Cheren said. Crown got to his feet and extended a pair of vines from its body. The vines came crashing down onto Smokey, sending her flying into a tree.

"Smokey!" I cried out. Smokey got to her feet, but looked severely wounded. Her body started to glow with a blazing red aura, signaling that her ability was active.

" _It all comes down to this one last blow!_ "

"Don't let her get close! Crown, keep her at bay with your vine whips!" Cheren said.

Crown extended his vines in front of him and furiously waved them through the air, making it difficult for Smokey to even approach. " _It's okay. Smokey can do this. We can do this._ " I thought, reassuring myself. I nodded at Smokey, then glared at Crown. "Smokey! Trust in your speed! Finish this battle with flame charge!" I said, pointing at Crown.

The flames grew out from Smokey's body once again, and she took off like a bullet. Smokey was easily able to weave through Crown's vines due to her speed, then she crashed onto Crown, sending them both flying through the air. Crown landed on his back and was unable to get up, but Smokey managed to land on her feet, breathing heavily.

The battle was decided. Crown was unable to battle, deeming our side the victors. I triumphantly pumped my fist in the air. "We did it! We won!" I cheered. Smokey looked exhausted, but raised her head in victory.

Cheren simply sighed and returned Crown to his Pokéball. "Congratulations, Hilda. You earned it." He said, walking up to me. He extended his hand for a handshake. I gladly shook his hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

"That was a tough battle, Cheren. Thank you!" I said.

Cheren nodded. "It was a learning experience. Now, let's head on back inside." He said.

Cheren and I went back into the lab, where Fennel and Amanita were waiting. "How did it go? Who won?" Amanita asked.

I pointed to myself. "I did! It was close, though." I said. Cheren sighed in response.

"I thought I knew your strategy, but you had some tricks up your sleeve. It really was our loss." Cheren said.

"Oh, don't beat yourself up over it, Cheren. Using two weakness policies really had me on the ropes!" I said, giggling. Cheren gave a dry laugh in reply, then we took our seats on the couch.

"Are any of your Pokémon still able to fight? We'll prepare them for the experiment right away." Fennel said as she walked over to us.

Cheren squinted. "The way you put it makes what you're doing incredibly sketchy…" Cheren said.

"Don't be like that! We're just going to give them a physical." Fennel said, trying to reassure Cheren.

I sent Smokey out of her Pokéball. She looked practically exhausted, but was still able to walk. "Smokey, we're going to need your help for a little while. Don't worry, they won't do anything weird to you." I said. Smokey looked up to Fennel and gave a cry of consent. "Thanks, Smokey! You're going to be a big help." I said, lifting her up and pulling her into a hug.

Smokey squealed in delight, then I set her down. She waddled over to Fennel where they took her upstairs. I laid back on the couch and took my diary out of my bag. I took a pen out and started scribbling on it, recounting the day's events. " _Oh, man. This is going to be a long entry._ " I thought.

Cheren tried to peek over, so I reflexively turned my diary so that he wouldn't see the pages. "What's that?" He asked.

"My diary! Don't peek." I said, glaring at him.

"Sorry. I was just curious." Cheren said, then reclined back on the couch.

"Hmph." I huffed, then went back to writing.

Cheren cleared his throat after a few minutes of writing, then turned to face me. "They're taking their time, aren't they." Cheren said, not looking up from his pocket book.

"I guess. Maybe they're having a difficult time finding Munna." I said, still writing in my diary.

"Perhaps. Let's just wait a bit longer." He said.

I glanced over to him and tried to see the title of his book. " _The Art of Pokémon Battling?"_ I thought.

Cheren must have noticed my gaze, because he showed me the pages he was reading. "This is the book that the quote from earlier was from. It's said that a true master of Pokémon battling wrote this." He said.

"Really? What's his name?" I asked.

"His name was lost to history, but academics simply call him by the region he hails from. Kanto." He said.

I furrowed my brow. "That doesn't seem like a very good way to name someone…" I said.

"Regardless, Kanto's mastery of Pokémon battling is well chronicled by his book. I recommend you give it a try." Cheren said, now looking at me.

"I think I'll take you up on that. I'll hit a bookstore tomorrow." I said, smiling.

" _The Art of Pokémon Battling_ is an incredibly popular book, so they tend to fly off the shelves. Fortunately, the publishing company knows how large the demand is, so they print an equally large number of copies." Cheren said.

I nodded. "That's good to hear. Thanks for the recommendation." I said.

Cheren kept on reading, "You don't really seem like the bookish type, Hilda. Sorry if that sounds judgmental." He said.

"I don't really read textbooks or strategy books, though." I said, scribbling into my diary.

"Really? Then what do you read?" Cheren asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Novels, stories, poems. Pretty much anything fiction. They're good ways to escape reality." I said.

Cheren started to smile. "Ah, have you read _A Sawsbuck's Elegy_? I found that book very touching." He asked.

"I read that when I was a kid! I remember crying all night after I read it." I said, reminiscing.

"It was one of the first books I'd ever read. It's hauntingly beautiful, even though it was marketed towards kids." Cheren said.

I put a finger to my chin. "I heard that the author is actually from Unova. I think her name was Shauntal." I said.

"Really? We'll have to get her autograph." Cheren said.

I shrugged. "It's just a rumor, though. Let's hope we manage to find her." I said.

"Have you read the _Detective Pikachu_ series?" Cheren asked.

"I've read the first few books, but I ended up dropping it after a while. It's not because I didn't like the series, but I guess I just grew out of it." I admitted.

Cheren nodded. "I've been reading the newer books in my spare time. For a kid's series, they're surprisingly good, if not very deep." Cheren said.

I nodded back. "Yeah. I heard they adapted the books into a film series, but I never got around to watching it." I said.

"Hilbert and I watched the first movie just the other week, actually. He was glued to the screen." Cheren said.

I pouted. "Aww, you should have invited me over." I said.

"It's not like I even invited Hilbert over. He just strolled up one day with a DVD, saying he wanted to watch it." He said, smiling at the memory.

" _Where was I then? Was I off with Bianca?_ "

"I guess Hilbert's into that sort of thing. Movies, I mean." I said.

"You think so?" Cheren asked.

"Yeah. Just yesterday the two of us watched a movie at his house. I think it was _Destiny Deoxys_." I said.

Cheren nodded. "I've heard of that movie. It was set in the Hoenn region, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. It was set somewhere called LaRousse City." I explained.

Cheren furrowed his brow. "LaRousse City? I can't say I've heard of a city by that name before." He said.

I shrugged. "It must be fictional." I said. I went back to writing in my diary.

A few more minutes passed, and Cheren started to look increasingly unsettled. "They shouldn't be taking this long. Did they run into trouble?" He asked.

"I'm sure they'll be fine. This is Hilbert and Bianca we're talking about… right?" I said, starting to worry myself.

As if on cue, we heard the front door open. Cheren and I immediately turned our heads to see who had come in. "I'm back." Bianca said, walking into the lab. To our surprise, Hilbert wasn't there.

"Welcome back, Bianca." Cheren said. Bianca didn't say anything, but her face told the whole story.

" _Something must have happened._ "

"Bianca…" I said, noticing the sad expression on the girl's face. "What happened at the Dreamyard?" I asked.

Bianca's expression quickly changed into a smile. "Oh, yeah. We got something better than dream mist." She said.

"Really? What's that?" Cheren asked.

Bianca rifled through her bag and took out a Pokéball. Cheren and I stared at it, then she clicked the button on the front. A Pokémon popped out of the Pokéball, revealing itself to be the munna from earlier. "Oh, you caught a munna?" Cheren asked.

"Not just any munna. This is Dream, the munna we saved earlier!" Bianca said, smiling triumphantly. Dream bobbed its body up and down in pride.

"Oh, is Bianca back?!" We heard Amanita say from upstairs. She wasted no time in running down the stairs, glomping Bianca as she made eye contact with her. "Welcome back! How did it go?" Amanita said, still clinging onto Bianca.

"I caught a munna named Dream. She's more than willing to give us some dream mist." Bianca said, ruffling Amanita's hair. Dream bobbed its body up and down once again, emitting some dream mist from the floral patterns on its body. " _Cute…_ " I thought, staring at Dream.

Amanita looked around the room. "Where's Hilbert?" She asked.

"Yeah… let me explain." Bianca said, then sat down on the couch in front of us. Amanita took a seat beside her, and we all pensively stared at her as she opened her mouth to explain what happened.

"We ran into some trouble in the Dreamyard. There were some members of Team Plasma who were looking for dream mist too, and they… were punching and kicking Dream." Bianca said.

"What? Those scumbags!" I said, scowling.

Cheren looked just as mad as I did. "They would stoop so low as to abuse an innocent Pokémon? Reprehensible." He said, clearly sounding mad.

Amanita, however, looked sad. "That's wrong…" She trailed off.

"Hilbert… got really mad. He did his best to protect Dream from being abused by them any further, but he was really scary. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that he went so far to protect Dream, but what he said and did were really, really scary." Bianca said, shivering.

"What did he do?" I asked, my voice quieting.

Bianca shook her head. "I'll let him explain. It's not my story to tell." She said.

"Where is Hilbert?" Cheren asked the question that was on all of our minds.

Bianca shook her head again. "I don't know. He said he'd catch up, and told me to head back. I'm not really sure where he went…" She trailed off.

"We have to go find him." Cheren said.

"Yeah. Let me give him a call." I said, then called him on the Xtransceiver. "Not picking up…" I said after the call failed to go through.

Bianca hugged Dream close to her chest. "I think he wants to be alone. There's no other reason why he'd tell me to go on ahead, I guess." She said.

Cheren sighed. "Maybe. I'm sure he'll come back once he's feeling better." He said.

While my mind agreed with what they said, my heart said something completely different. " _Hilbert must be hurting. You need to help him._ " I felt. " _He did it for you earlier. You need to do the same for him._ " My feelings said. " _But he'll get even angrier if someone shows up. He just wants to be alone. Leave him alone._ " My rational side tried to counter. " _No! He needs someone's help. He needs me._ " My emotional side fought back.

" _He'll hate you. He's going to stop being friends with you if you do it._ " My thoughts said. " _I don't care if he hates me! I just want to try to make him feel better._ " My feelings countered. " _Then go. Go, and be hated._ " I thought, then the thoughts went away.

" _Even if I'm hated, if he can feel the tiniest bit better, then that's all that I could ever ask for._ "

Listening to my thoughts and feelings rampage inside me, I knew what had to be done. I immediately stood up and dusted myself off. "Are you going to find him? It's getting really late." Cheren said.

"I'm going to bring him back, even if he hates me." I said, determination in my voice.

"I'm pretty sure he already hates you, but good luck, Hilda!" Amanita joked.

"Very funny. I'll be right back."

* * *

I was aimlessly wandering Striaton City. After I left the Dreamyard and came back into the city, I found myself wandering. I didn't know where I was going, or where I wanted to go. I just knew that I wanted to go somewhere.

So I did. I wandered aimlessly around the city, only stopping whenever I hit a dead end. Every time I hit a dead end, I turned back around and started walking again. Every now and then, I glanced at my fist. " _Sore._ " I thought. The knuckles were now starting to bruise, feeling tender every time I pressed a finger against them.

I looked at the bracelet slightly below my hand, just around my wrist. The moonlight reflected on the platinum, sending warm rays of light scattering around me. It was beautiful, but it wasn't enough to lift me from my horrible mood. I lowered my arm back to my side and started wandering again.

After seconds, minutes, or even hours of wandering, I came upon a familiar place. " _A garden._ " I observed. I looked in front of me and saw a towering fountain overflowing with water, the droplets of water refracting the moonlight all around the plaza. Though the area was devoid of any artificial light, it seemed that the light of the full moon was all it took to illuminate the area.

I recalled that this was the place Hilda and I had a deep conversation, earlier in the day. Except that time, it was Hilda who'd been feeling insecure.

" _How the tables have turned."_

I went over to the tree where Hilda and I talked, and rested my back against it. I lifted my head to get a good view of the night sky and watched the stars twinkle in and out of view.

I closed my eyes and listened to sounds around me; the gentle crashing of water on the base of the fountain, the chirping of the various insect Pokemon in the trees or in the shrubbery, and the gentle cries of the stunfisk that were resting by the water's edge. " _Such a peaceful area…_ " I thought.

After a few minutes of taking in the sounds, soothing my soul, I felt the wind around me change. " _Footsteps…?_ " I thought, hearing the sound of footsteps grow gradually louder. I opened my eyes and saw a very familiar young woman standing in front of me, an incredibly worried expression on her face.

"Hilda." I said, staring straight at her.

"Hilbert." Hilda responded, still looking worried.

I looked away from her. "Leave me alone. I'll come back to the lab once I'm done." I said, trying to get her to leave. Hilda stood there with her hands on her hips and stared at me. I sighed, realizing that I wouldn't stop her from staying.

"Do you want to talk about it? What happened at the Dreamyard." Hilda said.

I crossed my arms. "No." I said.

"...That's fine, then. Do you mind if I stay with you until you calm down?" Hilda asked.

"...No." I replied, then shifted a little to the left to make room for her on the tree. Hilda leaned back beside me on the tree and looked up into the night sky.

"A lot happened today, huh." Hilda said, her gaze aimed at the sky.

"Yeah. Too much." I said, looking down at the ground.

Hilda started laughing to herself. "Can you believe it? It's only our second day as trainers, and we already have a badge! At this rate, we'll be challenging the Pokémon League in no time." She said.

"Mm." I grunted in response. I stared down at the ground, watching the stunfisk flop around. " _They seem happy._ " I thought. The stunfisk happily flopped around each other, perhaps playing around. I allowed a smile to form at the edge of my lips as I watched the stunfisk playing.

Hilda must have noticed, because she was glancing over at me. "Something catch your eye?" She asked.

"The stunfisk seem to be happy." I said, looking over at the stunfisk.

Hilda turned to look at the stunfisk too. "Aww, they look so adorable! I want to snap one up in a Pokéball and take it home." She said, smiling at the stunfisk.

"They look like they're trainer owned, so that's probably not a good idea." I said, chuckling.

"Oh, you laughed!" Hilda said, puffing her chest out triumphantly.

"I suppose. This place does wonders to one's mood, after all." I said.

Hilda poked at my ribs. "Did I help? Did I? Did I?!" She said.

"Stop it!" I complained, fending off her pokes. She giggled and went back to looking up at the sky.

"I suppose I don't mind the company. Especially since it's you." I said, staring back at the stunfisk.

"That's sweet of you to say. Really." Hilda said.

"Mm." I grunted. We stood there in silence, taking in the view.

"Cheren and I had our battle earlier while you were at the Dreamyard." Hilda said, breaking the silence.

I turned to look at her. "Who won?" I asked.

"I did. It was a pretty close battle, though." She said, smiling wistfully.

"Did you fall for the same trick again?" I said, smirking at her.

Hilda puffed up her cheeks. "No!" She huffed, staring at me indignantly. "I fell for a different one." She followed up, sighing in shame.

I crossed my arms. "Really. What did Cheren do to you?" I asked.

"Since Lake, his panpour, was using a weakness policy, I thought Crown would have one of those berries. I was wrong. They both had weakness policies." Hilda said, looking downcast.

"But you managed to adapt and win, didn't you? That's something to be proud of." I said, rubbing her on the head.

A blush crept onto her face. Hilda lifted my hand and slowly took her cap off, letting her ponytail flow freely behind her. " _I never quite noticed before, but Hilda really is quite pretty._ " I thought.

My gaze must have lingered for too long, because Hilda raised an eyebrow at me. "See something you like?" She said, playfully flipping her hair.

"Yes. You." I said, teasing her.

Hilda puffed up her cheeks again. "Ugh, you were supposed to act all flustered." Hilda said, pouting.

"Am I the type of person to do that?" I deadpanned.

Hilda sighed. "...No."

I chuckled at her chagrin, which caused her to pout even further. "Meanie. Even though I came all the way here to cheer you up." She said, still pouting.

"How did you find me, anyway?" I asked.

Hilda shrugged. "I figured you would be here. This is where you tried to cheer me up earlier, right?" She said.

"Yes. Wait, what do you mean, 'tried to'?" I asked.

"You were pretty horrible at it." She said, snickering.

"At least you cheered up. I tried, okay?" I said, crossing my arms.

Hilda gave me a wide smile. "Yeah, you did. And that was what made me feel better, honestly." She said.

I turned away as she smiled at me, feeling my face heating up. "You don't need to turn away. I know you're blushing." Hilda said.

"I know you know. I just don't want you to see it."

"Is it that embarrassing?"

"Yes. Now leave me be."

"Fine, fine. I won't pressure you." She said, chuckling.

I looked up at the night sky. "Pretty, isn't it?" Hilda said, noticing my gaze.

"Yeah. It's a nice view." I said.

Hilda let out a deep breath. "You know… back at Sinnoh, my dad and I were never in the same place for too long. Always moving from city to city." She said, looking up at the sky. I quietly listened to Hilda as she talked.

"Constantly moving, having to make new friends every time I found myself in a new city… it was kind of stressful, you know? Especially for a kid." She said.

"How did you deal with it?" I asked.

"Simple. By not dealing with it." She said, smiling wistfully yet again.

"What?"

"I guess.. I dealt with it by escaping reality. I ended up reading a lot of story books. Because no matter where I went, the stories in those books stayed the same." She said.

"And…" She trailed off, extending her arm as if to capture a star in her hand. "No matter where I went, the night sky was always the same. The stars and the moon… no matter where I was in Sinnoh, I could just look up and remind myself that the sky would never change." Hilda said, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Hilda…"

"No, no. I'm sorry, Hilbert. For telling you all this, even though it was supposed to be my job to cheer you up." She said, smiling as she wiped away a tear.

I shook my head. "You don't need to apologize. I'm happy that you opened this up to me." I said, smiling at her.

Hilda closed her eyes. "It's nothing, really. Just a little tidbit about me." She said.

"I'm sure Bianca told you this, but we ran into Team Plasma at the Dreamyard." I said, having decided to tell her the story. Hilda nodded and closed her eyes, not wanting to interrupt me. "The moment I saw the bruises on Dream's body… I felt as if something went off inside me." I said. "I wanted to crush them. I wanted them to feel exactly what they inflicted onto Dream." I said.

"Hilbert…" Hilda muttered, turning to me.

"Did Bianca tell you the details? Of what I did." I asked.

Hilda shook her head. "No… she told us the gist of it, but decided that it would be best for you to tell us." She said.

"I'll have to thank her." I said, sighing in relief.

"So… what did you do?" Hilda asked, staring into my eyes.

I looked up and closed my eyes, exhaling deeply before I spoke. "When the sc- grunt lost our battle, they went and grabbed Dream and started punching her anyway. So I gave him a taste of his own medicine." I said, then raised my bruised fist for Hilda to see.

I opened my eyes and looked at her, and she stared at my fist in shock. "You… punched him?!" She said.

I nodded. "I did. But that's not all."

I took out Blade's and Torch's Pokéballs and rolled them around in my other hand. "They tried to do it again, so I threatened them. With my partners." I said.

"Hilbert…" Hilda muttered again, staring at the Pokéballs in my palm.

"Bianca said she was happy, but scared. Happy that I'd go to such lengths for Dream, but scared at my actions." I said.

"I don't regret what I did. I did it for Dream. I only stopped because she told me to." I said, placing the Pokéballs back into my bag. "I suppose you must be scared of me now. I wouldn't blame you." I continued, sighing.

"No… it's the opposite."

"Huh?"

"Like Bianca, it makes me really, really happy that you wanted to protect Dream that much." Hilda said. "But unlike her, I don't have any reason to be afraid of you." She continued.

"Why is that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hilda took my bruised hand in hers and squeezed tightly. " _Ow… that kind of hurts._ " I thought. "Because if ever you go off the deep end, I'll be there to catch you." She said, smiling at me.

I squeezed her hand back. "Are you sure? That's quite a commitment you're making. I might get the wrong idea." I said.

"Get the wrong idea, then. It's probably the right one, anyway." She said, smiling at me.

" _Is she teasing me?_ "

I sighed, then let go of her hand. "Do you promise you aren't afraid of me?" I asked.

Hilda scoffed. "Hilbert, whatever you did to that Team Plasma grunt, or whatever you'll do moving forward… you've probably already done it to me." She deadpanned, then pointed to her stomach. "See this? This is where you rammed your knee into." Hilda said. "It would have been bad enough, but I was on my period! For the rest of the day, I was practically curled up on my bed in pain." She complained.

"I'm sorry. Really. But it was probably what you deserved for splitting my lip open." I said, pointing to a faint scar near my lips. "I still have the scar to show for it, even if it is really tiny." I said.

Hilda glared at me. "Oh, sure. A split lip totally outclasses the intense pain you dealt onto my stomach and my womb. Sure." She said.

"That's… hardly the point. Besides, you're okay now, aren't you?" I said, knowing I wouldn't be winning this argument.

"I am, but it still hurts. And honestly, it probably hurt far more than the grunt's face after you punched it." Hilda said, snickering.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that… but probably." I said, snickering back.

"Thanks for opening up to me." Hilda said, smiling sweetly at me.

"After you opened up to me, it was hard not to do the same." I admitted, smiling back.

Hilda pouted. "Oh, don't say it like that. It sounds like I guilt tripped you into opening up." She said.

"Didn't you?" I said, smirking at her.

"Shut up."

We stood there for a little while longer, admiring the scenery of Striaton City's garden. After a while, Hilda put her cap back on and stretched her arms upwards. "Want to go back to the lab?" She said, turning around to look at me.

"Let's go."

Hilda and I walked side by side back to the lab, sharing a comfortable silence through the ambience of the city. Every now and then, I glanced at her face. " _Contented, aren't we?_ " I thought, chuckling to myself. I looked up at the night sky, counting the stars. " _I'm really glad to have met her._ " I thought, turning straight ahead.

The moment we entered the lab, Cheren and Bianca shot up from their seats. "Hilbert!" Bianca said, then ran up to me. She hugged me tight, crying against my chest. "I'm so glad you're okay! I was super worried…" Bianca said, sobbing into my chest.

Bianca must have come to her senses, because she immediately detached from me. "S-Sorry, Hilbert." She stuttered, bowing in apology.

"It's fine, really. I'm glad you were worried about me." I said, then Hilda ruffled Bianca's hair.

"I'm just so glad you two are okay…" Bianca said, sobbing.

"Wait. What do you mean 'you two'?" Hilda asked, leering at Bianca.

"I thought that maybe Hilbert might get mad, and…" Bianca trailed off.

"And what?" I asked, leering at Bianca too.

Faced with both of our glares, Bianca scrambled off and grabbed Cheren by the collar. "Hey!" Cheren complained, almost dropping his book.

"Amanita called for us and told us to meet her upstairs!" Bianca said, then dragged Cheren upstairs.

"Let me go! Damn it! Arghhh!" Cheren screamed, struggling to break free from Bianca's iron grip.

Hilda and I stared at the scene with our mouths agape, then made our way upstairs. The upstairs of the lab looked more like a laboratory: papers scattered everywhere, coffee mugs on every table, and a complex machine that only Dr. Fennel and Amanita could probably understand. "The hell is that?" I said.

I looked over and saw Dr. Fennel, Amanita and Dream surrounding a bed. "Oh, you're all here! We can get started now." Dr. Fennel said. She stepped back, letting us see what they were doing on the bed. Smokey was sleeping peacefully on the bed, a curious pink fog surrounding her.

"Is Smokey asleep?" Hilda asked.

Amanita nodded vigorously. "Yep! She just fell asleep. We should be able to see her dreams on the monitor to the right." She said, then pointed to the monitor. All of us turned our gazes to the monitor and waited for something to appear.

A few seconds later, the picture started to play on the monitor. Smokey was playing with Hilda by the edge of a cliff, and the pair looked happy. "It's kind of disconcerting seeing myself there…" Hilda said, awkwardly laughing.

"Well, we can change that, if you want." Dr. Fennel said.

Hilda raised an eyebrow. "Really? How?" Hilda asked.

"To tell you the truth, the Pokémon's trainer is also a part of this experiment." Dr. Fennel said. "It's easy enough to access a Pokémon's dreams using the dream mist, but a major roadblock my research has been facing was figuring out a way to project their trainer's consciousness into their dream. My findings led me to believe that participating in a battle with their trainer would allow us to use the dream mist to project the trainer's consciousness into their Pokémon's dream." Dr. Fennel explained.

"Why didn't you try that before?" I asked.

"Neither Amanita nor myself are actually trainers, so we couldn't do this experiment on our own… plus, I only came to this conclusion recently." Dr. Fennel admitted.

"Nothing bad's going to happen to me… Right?" Hilda nervously asked.

Dr. Fennel shook her head. "Nothing at all! If the experiment fails, you won't even fall asleep." Shel said, trying to reassure Hilda.

"Okay… I'll do it." Hilda said, steeling herself.

Dr. Fennel clapped her hands in joy and pointed over to the empty bed beside Smokey. "Alright! All you need to do is lie down beside Smokey. We'll administer some dream mist into your system through your lungs, and then you should feel yourself falling asleep." Dr. Fennel said.

Hilda nodded, then walked over to the empty bed. She took her boots off and laid down onto the bed. "Hey, Hilbert… can you sit beside me?" She said.

I nodded and went over to her, pulling up a stool to side beside her. "Oh, young love. Okay, time to knock you out." Dr. Fennel said, then beckoned Dream over. Hilda nodded at Dr. Fennel then smiled at me.

Dream emitted some dream mist from her body, which quickly flowed into Hilda's nose. Hilda's eyes started to look sleepier and sleepier until they eventually closed. She rolled over onto her back, falling into a light slumber. The gentle rise and fall of her chest assured us that she was still alive.

"If everything goes as planned, then…" Dr. Fennel said, then looked over at the monitor. Suddenly, the Hilda in the monitor stopped playing with Smokey and looked at her hands. "Hey! Can you guys hear me?!" The Hilda in the monitor said, waving her hands in the air.

Dr. Fennel went over and sat down by the monitor, speaking into a microphone. "Loud and clear, Hilda! How do you feel?" Dr. Fennel asked.

"Kind of nauseous, but I feel just like normal." Hilda said. I glanced over at Hilda's body beside me. Her eyes were still closed, and her chest was gently rising and falling with her breathing. There was a cadence to her snores which sounded adorable. " _Still sound asleep. Interesting._ " I thought.

I poked Hilda's cheeks with my free hand. "Hey, Hilda! Did you feel that?!" I shouted.

"Feel what? What are you doing with my body, you pervert?!" Hilda asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I just poked your cheeks! What did you think I was doing?" I shouted back, smirking at her even though I knew she couldn't see me.

Hilda puffed up her cheeks. "Grr… I'll get you back for that later!" Hilda said, huffing.

"Arceus, even when one's asleep they're still fighting." Cheren said, sighing as he adjusted his glasses.

"What's my body doing? Is it still asleep?" Hilda asked.

"Yes, you're sound asleep. Your body is just fine." Dr. Fennel said.

Hilda sighed in relief. "That's a relief… Wait, how do I wake up? Am I stuck like this forever?!" Hilda said, panicking. Smokey, who was by her feet, looked incredibly confused.

"You can wake up whenever you want by focusing hard enough on the real world. That, or we can have Hilbert tickle you awake." Dr. Fennel said.

"Phew. I'd much rather wake up on my own terms, rather than on Hilbert's…" Hilda said.

I glanced over at her sleeping body, which looked incredibly content. The corner of her mouth was slightly leaking with drool. "The thought never crossed my mind. You should see how peaceful you look right now. That, and the drool." I said.

"Oh Arceus, am I drooling? Hilbert, wipe it off before anyone sees!" Hilda commanded. I snickered and wiped her drool off with my sleeve.

"I did it, don't worry." I said.

Hilda sighed again in relief, but immediately looked incensed. "Wait, what did you wipe it off with? Never mind, don't tell me!" Hilda loudly complained.

I stared at the monitor. "My sleeve. Seriously, what are you after?" I asked.

"Nothing! Okay, let's get started." Hilda said, wanting to change topics.

Dr. Fennel laughed. "Ahaha, Aurea really was right about you two." She said.

" _I'm remembering that for later._ " I thought, starting to scowl.

"Anyway, Amanita, if you would?" Dr. Fennel said. Amanita started typing onto a keyboard with blistering speed, then a berry appeared in front of Hilda.

"Where did this come from?!" Hilda said, taking the berry. " _A Sitrus berry?_ " I thought.

"Hilda, do you see that house behind you?" Dr. Fennel asked.

Hilda turned around. "Yeah, I see it. Is that Smokey's?" She asked.

"Yes, but what we're after is behind the house. Head over there." Dr. Fennel said. Hilda and Smokey walked around the house and over to the back, revealing patches of mysteriously light soil. "You should be able to plant that berry in that soil. Go on, plant it!" Dr. Fennel said.

Hilda nodded and quickly planted the berry into the soil. "Okay. What now?" She asked.

"That should be all. If all goes right, then we should be able to get some berries from the Entree Forest." Dr. Fennel said.

"Alright, so can I wake up now?" Hilda asked. "Yep! Just concentrate and you should be able to wake up." Dr. Fennel said.

"Okay." Hilda said, then she closed her eyes and furrowed her brow.

Hilda - the sleeping Hilda, beside me - started to rouse, her eyes starting to flutter open. "Whoa… I suddenly feel really well rested." Hilda said, then her stomach started to grumble.

"And hungry." I pointed out, poking her belly.

Hilda rubbed her belly. "Shut up. Cook me something, will you?" She said.

"Hilda, how do you feel?" Dr. Fennel asked.

"Well rested, but slightly nauseous. That felt like a real out-of-body experience." Hilda said, slightly raising her head to see Dr. Fennel.

Dr. Fennel nodded. "That's good. Dream mist has a slightly hallucinogenic effect on the human body, after all." She said.

"Is that why I feel so loopy?" Hilda asked. She had a slightly glazed look in her eyes.

"Don't worry, it'll go away." Dr. Fennel said, trying to reassure Hilda again.

"Hilda, could you cough into this?" Dr. Fennel asked, then gave Hilda a transparent, cylindrical bottle.

"Uh… okay." Hilda said, then coughed into the bottle. A purple mist flew out from her mouth and was immediately captured by the bottle. "Whoa, what's that?!" Hilda asked as she quickly sealed the bottle.

"Dream mist used by trainers is the next subject of my research. I'll need to collect a sample from all of you, so could you all humor me?" Dr. Fennel said.

Bianca, Cheren and I then took turns falling into a dream mist-induced sleep, each of us coughing out the purple mist. "Since this dream mist doesn't have a name, I'm going to name it something. Uh… trainer mist!" Dr. Fennel said.

"I hope that's a tentative name." I said, slightly woozy from the dream.

"Aww, don't be like that. You're cute when you sleep!" Hilda said, poking me in the cheek.

I glared at Hilda. "I'll give you some sweet dreams…"

Dr. Fennel placed the bottles into a strange machine which suctioned out the gas, then gave us each a mysterious badge shaped like a munna. "Place this onto your Pokédex." Dr. Fennel said. I shrugged and followed her orders, attaching the munna-shaped badge onto the Pokédex. The badge started to glow a faint pink, then stopped glowing as if nothing had happened.

"Do you recall how I said trainers are most in tune with their Pokémon after a battle? The trainer mist is a physical representation of that. If my hypothesis is correct, then…" Dr. Fennel trailed off. "Hilbert, can you send Blade out of his Pokéball?" Dr. Fennel asked. I shrugged and took Blade's Pokéball out of my hand, then clicked the middle button.

Blade came out of the Pokéball and stood by my feet. "Yes, Hilbert?" An unfamiliar voice said.

I raised an eyebrow and looked around the room, trying to figure out who said my name. "Did anyone call for me?" I asked.

"No…? Are you hearing things?" Hilda asked.

"I called for you. Down here." The unfamiliar voice said again.

" _No. There's no way._ "

At that moment, I absolutely knew who had called for me, but my mind went into full denial.

" _There's absolutely no way._ "

"Hilbert, I'm talking to you." The voice said again. Gulping, I slowly looked down and looked at Blade, who was glaring at me and crossing his arms. "Finally, you're looking down here. Did you need something?" Blade asked.

"Ah… AAAAAAAAAAHHH!" I screamed as I fell onto my backside.

"Hilbert? What's gotten into you?" Cheren asked.

"Blade just… talked!" I said, pointing at Blade.

Blade raised an eyebrow at me. "Yes, I did. Can you understand me now?" He asked.

"Loud and clear. Too loud and clear." I sputtered out.

"Good. It's nice knowing that we can both understand each other now." Blade said.

"Aren't you taking this too much in stride?!" I shouted.

Blade shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just happy we can understand each other, partner." He said, then leaped onto my chest.

"Alright! Can the rest of you send out your starters?" Dr. Fennel said. They obliged, and had practically the same reaction as I did.

"Smokey?!"

"Crown…?"

"Jolts!"

I stared at them as they expressed their surprise. " _Same reaction, but different emotions…_

"Alright, let me explain how it works." Dr. Fennel said. "I used the trainer mist to make a prototype device that allows you to hear the voices of Pokémon." She explained. "Since it's only a prototype, it has two big limitations. One, you can only hear the voices of the Pokémon registered to you, and two, you can't turn it off unless you physically remove the device from your Pokédex, which will destroy it." She said.

"I'll be automatically collecting data from your Pokédex, so you don't need to come back here and report your findings. However, if you want to access the dream world, then you'll have to pay us a visit." Dr. Fennel said.

"I'm not sure how I feel about having my data collected without my consent, but I guess if I can talk to Smokey now, then that's fine." Hilda said, hugging Smokey close to her.

Dr. Fennel and Amanita bowed deeply at us. "Thank you for all of your help. Our research has progressed tremendously thanks to you!" Dr. Fennel said.

"Please, it's nothing. The honor is all ours for helping someone as esteemed as yourself." Cheren said.

"You flatter me!" Dr. Fennel said, raising her head.

"Oh, I'll be giving you guys an allowance for all the help you've done for us. And no, I will not be taking no for an answer. Take it!" Dr. Fennel said, then Amanita gave each of us an envelope.

Hilda stared at the envelope in her hands. "Thank you very much…" She said.

"Compared to all you've done, the money's nothing. Thank you again!" Dr. Fennel said.

"You've helped my research too!" Amanita said.

"You're researching something too?" Bianca asked.

Amanita nodded and smiled. "Yeah! I forgot to mention this, but I developed Unova's Pokémon PC storage system. You know, the system where you can deposit your Pokémon into." She explained.

Cheren's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "That's quite a bombshell to be casually dropping on us." He said, trying to regain his composure.

"I was looking into a possible link between Pokémon storage and dreams. I've learned a lot today because of you!" Amanita said, smiling brightly at us.

"The pleasure's all ours…" Cheren muttered, still dazed.

The four of us returned our partners to our Pokéballs and bade the researchers goodbye. I checked my Xtransceiver for the time after we left the lab. "It's 10 PM already? I'm starving." I said, rubbing my grumbling belly. "Same. Hilbert, wanna go somewhere with me?" Hilda asked.

I looked over at Bianca and Cheren, who simply nodded at us. "Don't stay out too late, you two!" Bianca cheerily said.

"We'll see you back at the Pokémon center." Cheren said, waving goodbye.

Hilda and I split up from Bianca and Cheren and started wandering around Striation City, side by side. " _What a way to end an exhausting day…_ " I thought. I smiled, and looked up at the night sky.

" _The full moon's out tonight. It's quite beautiful, don't you think?_ "


	10. A Day to Themselves

"Hilbert! Hilbert, try this one!" I said, shoving a cookie in Hilbert's face. "You're being noisy. Quiet down." He said, then took a bite of the snickerdoodle in front of him. "...Delicious." He said, chewing on the cookie. "See? See?! This place is great!" I said, shoving the cookie into my mouth.

Hilbert and I were sitting across each other at a bakery, sampling quite literally everything they had to offer. Compared to the rest of Striation, the bakery looked practically ancient. The floorboards were made of oak wood, the walls were brick and mortar, and even the lights were incandescent. Hilbert and I were sitting at a small, wooden round table meant for two, and the chairs we were sitting on had an ornate, Johtonian design on the backrest. The cushions on the seats of the chairs were made of leather, perfect for tired trainers. Because of how late it was, Hilbert and I were the only ones at the bakery aside from the owner.

"You know, I think we should have dinner before dessert." Hilbert said, then shoved an oatmeal cookie into his mouth. "You're not being very convincing." I said, smiling at his apparent hunger. "Shut up. It tastes good, okay?" He said, scarfing down another oatmeal cookie.

"Hahaha! I don't see many customers like you two." The woman behind the counter said. She was a short, pretty pudgy woman with graying hair, almost like a grandma. I assumed she was the owner of the bakery. "I don't mind, though. This place is too quiet for its own good sometimes." She said. "Thanks for the cookies, miss!" I said, flashing a beaming smile at her.

The old lady gave a hearty laugh. "It's no problem at all, miss. Just watching you and your boyfriend enjoy my treats is enough for an old woman like me." She said. I looked back at the old lady and shook my head. "Not my boyfriend, but I'm glad to hear that!" I said, smiling at her. The old lady simply laughed. "Hahaha! Sorry for assuming. You two seem really close!" She said.

Hilbert looked up from the third oatmeal cookie he was working on and nodded at her. "I suppose." He said, in between bites. I laughed at the crumbs flying out of Hilbert's mouth. "To think, you were so against going here because you wanted dinner…" I said, playfully poking him on the forehead. Hilbert swallowed his cookie and glared at me. "If it tastes good, it tastes good." He said, then started eating a chocolate chip cookie.

"Your friend's quite a glutton, isn't he?" The old lady said. Hilbert took a bite of the cookie and looked at her. "My name's Hilbert, and I'm not a glutton. She's worse." He said, pointing at me. I was just about to put my tenth sugar cookie into my mouth. "Uh…" I muttered. "She has at least one meal a day at my house. Mother's income can barely support it." He said, then finished the cookie.

"Come on, your food tastes great." I said, then swallowed the sugar cookie. "Flattery will get you nowhere." He said, picking up another cookie from the plate. "Hmph. You're the worst. I can't believe we were mistaken for being in a relationship." I huffed. "Like you've ever been in one." Hilbert said, snickering. "You sure about that? I'm a hot commodity." I said, smirking at him.

Hilbert raised an eyebrow at me. "Really? I've never seen you with another boy around your arm." He said. "Oh, really? Maybe I'm just good at hiding it." I said, smirking at him. "I'm calling your bluff." Hilbert said, staring straight at me. At that point, he looked so curious that I felt bad for him. "Aha! Got you." I said, then shoved the cookie into his mouth.

He angrily chewed the cookie and swallowed it. "Unbelievable." He said. "Ehehe, teasing you is so much fun." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. "Besides, we're in the same boat, aren't we? No romantic experience or whatever." I said, looking into his eyes. Hilbert quickly averted my gaze, then munched on a cookie.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No. You player." I said. "Does being confessed to by someone count as a romantic experience?" Hilbert asked, still not meeting my gaze. I blinked. "No way. You were… confessed to?" I said, placing a hand in front of my mouth. "What's the problem? I'm sure you've gotten confessed to too." Hilbert said, waving a hand in front of him.

"About that…" I trailed off. " _Sure, there weren't too many people in Nuvema Town, but there were boys in the town other than Hilbert and Cheren. And none of them ever confessed to me like that._ " I thought. "Really? That's surprising." Hilbert said, turning back to face me. "Alright, tell the story. Who confessed to you? Was it Sandy? Jill? Lucy?" I said, rattling off the names of some of the girls in the town.

"None of them." He said, now sighing. "Then who was it? Tell me!" I said, pouting at him. "Fine, whatever." Hilbert said. "Miss, can you pass us two cups of coffee?" I asked the old lady. "Coming right up!" The old lady said, then went and brought us two steaming cups of coffee.

Hilbert took a sip from his mug and looked down into it. "Hot. Anyway…" Hilbert trailed off, then looked at me. "How much do you know about my life in Hoenn?" I asked. I put a finger to my chin and started to recall. "I know you lived in an island town called Dewford Town with your mom. Other than that, not much else." I said.

"Cheren already knew this, and I just told Bianca this, but before I lived in Dewford, I lived in a place called Rustboro City." Hilbert explained. "Really? Why is this the first I've heard of this?" I asked. "You never asked. I didn't think it was something that came up in casual conversation." Hilbert said. I sighed. "That makes sense. Go on."

"I had a couple friends in Rustboro City. There was this slightly older boy named Steven, who's the son of the president of the Devon Corporation." I said. "The Devon Corporation? Isn't that a really big company in Hoenn?" I asked. "Yes. They're like the Silph Corporation in Kanto, except they have more of a focus on mining and telecommunications." I said.

"I see. Who were the other friends you had?" I asked. "Let's see. There was this girl named May, who technically lived in a town called Littleroot Town, but visited the city often with her father." I said. "A girl? Is that the one?" I asked. "No. We were good enough friends, but I didn't get to see her often. We were always hanging around Steven, though." I said.

"Who else was there?" I asked. "Hmm… There was also this boy named Calem, who actually lived in Rustboro City. He moved away to Kalos a few weeks before we moved to Unova, though. Every time his parents got into a Pokémon battle, the entire city would stop what they were doing and watch." Hilbert said, smiling. "They must have been really strong. Were you close with him?" I asked.

"Yes. Calem was my best friend before we had to part ways. We still manage to keep in touch, though." Hilbert said. "Really? How?" I asked. "I'll explain later. I still had a few more friends." Hilbert said. "I didn't expect you to be such a social butterfree, Hilbert!" I teased. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked, glaring at me. "Nothing, nothing. Go on." I said, waving his glare off.

Hilbert took another sip from his mug. "Another boy I was pretty close to was a guy named Brawly. He didn't live in Rustboro, but he did live in Dewford. When he heard that my mom and I would be moving to Dewford, he was pretty excited. He said that he wouldn't need to visit Rustboro nearly as often anymore." He said. "You two must have been pretty close! What was he like?" I asked.

"Brawly was a really loud kid. Really strong, but always getting into trouble. We went surfing pretty much every week until we left for Unova." Hilbert said. "You know how to surf?!" I asked, my eyes as wide as dinner plates. "I have some experience. Brawly and I went surfing practically every weekend." Hilbert said, taking a sip from his mug.

I took a sip from mine then grabbed his shoulders. "We have to go to the beach someday. It'll be so fun!" I said, my eyes sparkling. The old lady laughed from behind the counter. "There's a place in eastern Unova called Undella Town. The beaches there are exquisite." The old lady said. "That's perfect. Hilbert, we're going there, and I'm not taking no for an answer!" I said.

Hilbert sighed and placed his hands over mine. "Fine. Someday." He said, then removed my hands from his shoulders. "Let me think. Who else was there?" Hilbert said, then his brow started to crease. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Fine… I guess I'll tell you about her." Hilbert said, then downed his entire drink. "Her… I'm guessing that's the girl who confessed to you." I said.

Hilbert nodded. "Her name is Roxanne. We went to school together in Rustboro. She was always a disciplined, academic type of girl that did everything her parents said. Every time Brawly and I got into trouble, she was always there to tell us off." Hilbert said. "Gee, that sounds familiar." I said, sighing.

Hilbert raised an eyebrow at me, but continued talking. "Calem, Roxanne and I were pretty much inseparable. Whenever May and Brawly were in town and Steven wasn't busy, the six of us would always get together and play." Hilbert said. "Was it fun?" I asked. "Yeah. Even though they were memories from over five years ago, I still remember all of it vividly." He said.

"Steven was like our older brother. Watching over all of us so that we didn't get into any major trouble, but looked the other way if we were just messing around. Brawly and May kept trying to get us into trouble, while Roxanne and Calem tried to dial them back. I just went with the flow of whichever side won." Hilbert said. "Even though we had to move to Dewford because of mom's job, I still visited Rustboro fairly often whenever I got the chance. There was this sailor called Mr. Briney that my mom knew very well, and he'd often give me a ride to Rustboro with my mom's permission. Looking back, I don't know how safe that was, but I'm still alive now." Hilbert said.

"This is the first I've heard of any of this. Were you hiding this from anyone?" I asked. Hilbert just shrugged. "Cheren knew some of this. It's not the kind of thing that comes up in casual conversation, and Cheren only knows because he asked about my life in Hoenn." Hilbert said. "And Bianca only just asked." He followed up. "I guess we were too busy doing other things for you to tell me your life story, huh." I said, giggling. "Perhaps. Anyway, I'll continue." Hilbert said, laughing back at me.

"Do you remember how I told you that I still managed to keep in touch with Calem?" Hilbert said. "Yeah. Last I heard, it was pretty difficult for a normal citizen to regularly contact someone from another region. Especially regions as far apart from each other as Unova and Kalos." I said. "You didn't hear this from me, but the Silph Company in Kanto, the Devon Corporation in Hoenn, the Cross Facility here in Unova and Lysandre Labs in Kalos have been working together on some sort of device." Hilbert said.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What kind of device?" I asked. Hilbert looked around the bakery, making sure that we were alone and pulled something out from his bag. It was a sleek, black rectangular device with curved edges that looked like it had a glass screen. There was a Pokéball shaped button on the bottom, and some tiny buttons along the side. I stared at it for a few seconds with eyes as wide as the device itself. "What the heck is that?!" I nearly shouted.

"This is a prototype of the Pokénav Plus. It's a device that supposedly lets you connect with trainers all around the world." Hilbert said, passing the device to me. I quickly snatched the device from his hands and inspected it. "It's just a black device. What is this even supposed to do?" I said, then pressed the Pokéball shaped button.

Suddenly, the screen lit up, displaying a solid black background with the time at the center of the screen, near the top. "Whoa!" I exclaimed in surprise, nearly dropping the device. "Careful with it. Only a few exist around the world." Hilbert said, starting to look shaken.

"It's just like a Pokédex." I said, looking at the screen. "It was designed to look like a Pokédex, yes." Hilbert said, then took the device from me. "All four of those big companies came together to design the Pokénav Plus as a way for the world's global telecommunications to improve drastically." He said, then placed his finger on the Pokéball shaped button. Immediately, the screen changed, the time becoming replaced with all sorts of different icons.

"Silph and Lysandre collaborate on the hardware and technology, Cross works on the software and Devon oversees the entire operation." Hilbert explained. "Don't look through my messages, by the way." He followed up, glaring at me. "Hold on, this is too much for me…" I said, staring at the screen. "How do you even know all of this?" I asked, running my finger across the screen.

To my surprise, when I touched the icon that had the picture of a camera, the screen changed. It was now displaying what was right in front of it. I aimed the Pokénav at Hilbert and pressed a white button near the bottom of the screen. The front of the Pokénav emitted a bright light that went away as soon as it came. I tapped another icon near the bottom of the screen, making the screen change yet again. This time, the screen changed to the picture I took earlier of Hilbert's face.

"I see you found the camera." Hilbert said, sighing. "This thing even has a camera?!" I exclaimed, then shoved Pokénav in front of Hilbert's face. "Yes, I'm well aware of my own face." Hilbert said, then pushed my arm away. "Still, I'm curious." I said, pulling my arm back. "How do you know all of this?" I asked. "Wait, you don't know mother's job?" Hilbert asked back, staring at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "I know she works for some foreign company. What was it? Starts with a D." I said, then put the pieces together in my head. "Oh. That explains it." I said, realizing the obvious. "An agent of the Devon Corporation working as their liaison with companies based in Unova." Hilbert said. I blinked. " _That explains a lot. No wonder his mom is so busy._ " I thought.

The old lady came back into view, probably having done something in the kitchen. "Did I miss anything?" She asked us from behind the counter. Hilbert took the Pokénav from my hands, making sure that it was out of the old lady's line of sight. "Nothing. Can we order some more cookies?" Hilbert said, looking down at the crumb-filled plate.

"Coming right up!" The old lady said with a smile. She went into the kitchen and took out a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. She brought it to our table with a smile you could expect from your grandma. "Thanks!" I said, smiling back at her. Hilbert nodded. "Thank you." He said. The old lady bowed at us and went back into the kitchen.

"I'll tell you more about it when we're completely alone. The professor should be able to tell you more about it if we manage to run into her." Hilbert said, his eye twitching when he said the word 'professor'. "Why is that?" I asked. "Later. Let's finish our cookies." Hilbert said, then brought a cookie to his mouth and took a big bite out of it.

I shrugged and ate a cookie as well. We ate the cookies in silence until only crumbs were left on the plate. Hilbert went up to the counter and rang the service bell on the counter. The old lady came out of the kitchen a few seconds after. "Leaving already?" She asked, a sad look on her face. "Yes. It's getting late." Hilbert said.

"Alright, your order comes up to 3000 Pokédollars." The old lady said, looking at the register. Hilbert flinched at the price. "I didn't think we would spend this much." He said, then brought out his wallet and paid the full price. "Hilbert, let's split the bill!" I shouted at him from our table. "I said I'd treat you to something, right?" He asked, looking back at me. "Oh, yeah." I said, recalling how he'd teased me at the Dreamyard earlier.

Hilbert narrowed his eyes at me. "Did you forget? I'm treating you." Hilbert said. I sighed and made my way over to the counter. "Thanks." I said, giving Hilbert my brightest smile. Hilbert tipped his cap and turned away from me, then gave the old lady 3000 Pokédollars. " _Embarrassed? How cute!_ " I thought. "Thank you! Here's your receipt." She said, then gave Hilbert the receipt.

Hilbert put the receipt in his wallet. "Thank you." He said, then turned to leave. "Thanks!" I said, smiling at the old lady. I followed behind Hilbert, then we made our way outside the bakery. The door creaked as we opened it, and the doorknob was cold to the touch. The moment we left the bakery, the cold, autumn air blasted straight into our faces, causing me to feel the chill in my very bones.

"Just like in Sinnoh…" I said, stretching my arms up high. " _The temperature here has nothing on Sinnoh's._ " I thought, chuckling to myself. I glanced over at Hilbert and, even though he was dressed in many more layers than I was, he was shivering in the night air. His teeth were clattering, and his expression was clearly shouting 'Get me out of here!'.

"Ah, right. You don't like the cold." I said, sighing. "Hoenn's practically in the tropics. Forgive me for not liking the cold." He said, hugging his arms close to his chest. "It's not even that cold yet! The winter's much worse." I said, chuckling at his expense. "I make it a point to never leave the house during winter." He replied. "And I'm glad you don't, because that means I get to bug you more often." I said, poking him in the side.

Hilbert didn't even flinch. "Last winter you were at my house pretty much everyday. It's a miracle your dad didn't put you under house arrest." He said. "Ehehe, he's usually too busy with his job. Besides, it was fun!" I said. "That it was. Bianca and Cheren came over a lot, too." He said, showing the slightest hint of a smile.

I grabbed Hilbert by the arm and started walking. Hilbert didn't resist, but looked furrowed his brow at me. "Where are we going?" He asked. "Getting you out of the cold. There should be some fast food place still open." I said, still walking. "Can't we just go back to the Pokémon center?" Hilbert asked. As if on cue, his stomach started to rumble. "That's why. Let's get some actual food to eat!" I said, smiling at him. "I don't think fast food counts as actual food." He said, sighing.

I ignored his last remark and dragged him along to the first fast food place we saw. "They have a Burger Champ here?" Hilbert asked, looking up at the bright, neon sign. The sign read 'Burger Champ' in annoying yellow letters. "Burger Champ is everywhere. You couldn't throw a stone in a crowd without hitting someone who's eaten at a Burger Champ." I said. "It says 24 hours…" Hilbert said, looking at the neon sign on the restaurant's window which read '24 Hours' in an even more annoying purple. "That means it's still open. Let's go!" I said, then dragged Hilbert inside.

The interior of Burger Champ was radically different from the bakery. The place was practically covered in tiles: the floor was tiled, and even the ceiling was tiled. The walls, however, were made of concrete with an eggshell paint finish. and instead of standard tables and chairs, Burger Champ went for booths with leather couches and stainless steel tables. The LED lights were bright enough to light up the entire place with only a few of them.

Even though it was almost midnight, the place still had quite a few people. Hilbert and I went to one of the smaller booths. I placed my bag on the table. "I'll go order. What do you want?" I asked. Hilbert took his seat and slumped onto the couch. "Whatever meal that doesn't give me heartburn." He muttered. I pulled him up by the shoulders and made him sit straight. "Fine, a triple patty burger with extra cheese for you." I said, glaring at him. "Arceus, give me strength…" He moaned.

I giggled at his expense. "Fine, I'll get a plain one for you. And a salad, but don't expect it to be very good." I said. "As long as I live to see tomorrow…" He said, then hunched over the table. "I'll have to treat him to something later…" I muttered. I let Hilbert rest and walked over to the cashier.

Luckily, the line at the cashier wasn't too long. " _It is really late at night._ " I observed. "Welcome to Burger Champ. What would you like?" The cashier asked the moment I got to the counter. I looked up at the screens above the cashier which displayed the menu. "I'd like a number 1 and a number 3." I said, placing an order for a plain burger meal and a double cheeseburger meal, both with fries and soda.

The cashier tapped away at the register, entering my order. "Do you have Pokémon with you? We offer meals for them." The cashier asked. I raised an eyebrow. "Really? You can serve Pokémon here?" I asked. The cashier smiled. "Certainly! Burger Champ has special meals for Pokémon." She said, then gestured to something behind me. I turned around and saw an excadrill happily munching on what seemed to be a triple cheeseburger.

"The meals depend on how big your Pokémon is. Would you like to place an order?" The cashier asked with a smile. "Definitely! I'll take five meals for small Pokémon." I said. The cashier tapped away the register again, entering my order. "Your total comes up to 1120 Pokédollars." The cashier said. I took out my wallet and paid the cashier. The cashier put the money into the register, then handed me my change and a slip of laminated paper with the number "43" on it.

"Your order number is 43. Please wait for your order to arrive at your table. Thank you for dining at Burger Champ!" The cashier said, giving me a small bow. "Thank you." I said, then walked back to our table with the order number.

Hilbert was still asleep on the table by the time I got back. I took the seat opposite him, placed the order number on the table and leaned back, waiting for the order to arrive. " _What an exhausting day…_ " I thought, closing my eyes. " _The speech from that Ghetsis guy felt like it was forever ago, but it was only earlier this morning… Who knew that a trainer's life could be so exciting?!_ " I thought, smiling to myself. " _Still, moments like these are just what you need to get back on your feet._ " I thought.

I opened my eyes and looked down, taking a good look at Hilbert. His arms were crossed over the table, and his head was resting between them. His cap looked uncomfortable on his head; the visor was bent, creasing the material. " _Let me just…_ " I thought, then reached over to Hilbert's head. Making sure not to wake him up, I lifted the cap from his head and set it down beside him. His dark brown hair was ruffled and unkempt, probably a sign of how tired he was.

" _He didn't even budge… he must be tired._ " I thought. Hilbert was snoring on the table, but it wasn't loud enough to disturb anyone nearby. I smiled and gently ran my fingers through his hair, trying to fix it. " _Darn, it just won't stay down…_ " I thought after a minute of trying to finger comb his hair. I gave up and rubbed his head instead, waiting for the time to pass.

After a few minutes of rubbing his head, one of the workers came and brought us our orders. " _Let's see. This huge burger is mine, this other one is Hilbert's, and these slightly smaller ones are for our Pokémon."_ I thought, looking over the burgers. Hilbert was still sleeping peacefully, but it was time to eat.

"Hilbert." I said, shaking him on the shoulder. "Mm." He grunted, still asleep. "Hilbert." I said with a little more force, grasping his shoulder as I shook it. "Mm." He grunted back, not having budged an inch. "Arceus, I hate waking him up…" I muttered. " _Only one thing left to do._ " I thought, then rose from my seat.

I walked up to Hilbert's side and took a deep breath. " _Sorry, Hilbert._ " I thought, then plunged my finger into his side. Hilbert woke up with a start. "Grah!" He shouted, drawing the attention of the nearby diners. "Oh, good. You're finally awake." I said. "Urgh. What time is it?" Hilbert groaned, then looked at his Xtransceiver.

"11 PM. This isn't dinner anymore. This is a midnight snack." Hilbert said, deeply sighing. "It's still food." I said, returning to my seat. Hilbert looked over at the tray containing our food. "This is too much food for two people. Hilda, are you going to eat all this, or are you trying to put me in a hospital?" Hilbert asked, staring wide-eyed at the tray.

I shook my head. "Our Pokémon are eating too. Send them out!" I said, then sent out Smokey and Willow beside me, on the couch. Smokey and Willow looked confused at the sudden change of scenery. "Really. That's good to hear." Hilbert said, then sent out his own team beside him. Blade, Ace and Torch looked just as confused as my own party.

I placed Hilbert's burger in front of him, then unwrapped the Pokémon's burgers and set it in front of each one of them. "Let's eat!" I said, then unwrapped my own meal. It was a bona fide double cheeseburger: two large patties sandwiched between toasted sesame seed buns, cheddar cheese melting between each layer. The veggies were resting peacefully on the top patty, bathed in a wonderful ketchup-and-mayonnaise mixture. The secret sauce was slathered on both the top and bottom bun, further bringing out the burger's flavor.

I stared at the burger for a few seconds before digging in, sinking my teeth into the delicious, cholesterol-raising food. "Mmm… just like the night sky." I said, savoring the taste of the burger. Hilbert looked up at me, mid-bite. "That's the first time I've ever heard anyone compare a burger to the night sky. What does that even mean?" He asked, then took a bite from his burger.

I looked out the window, burger in hand. "No matter where you go… Sinnoh, Hoenn, Unova… a Burger Champ double cheeseburger always tastes the same." I said, tears forming in the corner of my eyes. Hilbert stared at me with a mildly concerned expression. "You're getting way too dramatic over a burger." He said, bringing me back down to the ground.

"Boo. Let me have my moment!" I said, sticking my tongue out at him. "If you want food that tastes the same, then you should be satisfied with my cooking." Hilbert said, taking another bite out of his burger. "You kidding? Your cooking only gets better and better. It's about as different from 'the same' as it can get." I said, smiling at him.

Hilbert tried to pull the visor down on his cap, covering his face, but couldn't. "What the- argh!" He cried. Hilbert tried to improvise by covering his face with his hands, but it was already useless. " _There's only one reason why he'd cover his face like that._ " I thought, chuckling to myself. "Hilbert, I know you're blushing. You don't need to hide it." I said, giggling at him. "I know you know. I just don't want you to see it." He said, still covering his face.

"Hilda, you really should stop teasing him…" Smokey said, just having finished her meal. "Oh, right. You can talk now." I said, turning to look at her. Smokey shook her head. "I could always talk, but this is the first time you could understand me. Second, I guess..." Smokey said, then yawned. She stretched her stubby little limbs and laid flat on the couch. "Thanks for the food, by the way! Super yummy." Smokey said.

"Th-thanks…" Willow said, her expression meek as always. She'd barely touched her food. "Willow, you can do better than that! Seriously, it's good for you- no, wait, it isn't…" I said. "It's delicious!" I said, giving Willow a big smile. Willow stared at me. For a second, then nodded her head and shoved the burger into her mouth. "Not that fast!" I said, prying the burger from her mouth.

Willow coughed. "Thanks a-again…" Willow stuttered. I put the burger back in her hands and she started eating it bite by bite. "It's no problem. Enjoy!" I said, giving Willow another award-winning smile. Willow quickly nodded at me and brought a little bit of the burger into her mouth. "That's better. No rush!" I said, stroking the tuft of fur on her head.

I glanced over at Hilbert and he seemed to be having a conversation with his own Pokémon as well. " _Darn, I can't understand what they're saying._ " I thought. "Osha. Osha wott." Blade said, looking up from his burger. "Thank Hilda. She's the one who bought it." Hilbert replied. "Sear!" Torch said, giving me a thumbs up. I raised an eyebrow and gave him a thumbs up back. "Willow, do you know what they're saying?" I asked.

"They really like the food… and it looks like Pans- uh, Torch wants more." Willow explained, in between bites. "If Torch wants more, it's coming out of Hilbert's pockets." I huffed. "I-I see… thanks for the food, Ms. Hilda…" Willow mumbled. "Oh, don't be like that! Just call me Hilda." I said, smiling again at Willow.

Willow stared at me, then gave me an apprehensive smile. "Okay… thanks, Hilda…" Willow said, then went back to munching on the burger. "She's a bit of a shy one, that's for sure." I said to Smokey, who was relaxing on the couch seat. "Yeah. She's a nice girl, though. We get along." Smokey said, not even opening her eyes. "You're really enjoying yourself on that couch, aren't you." I said, stroking Smokey's back.

"It's great. Today was really tiring, so I just wanna sleep…" She said, yawning into the seat. "Don't you sleep in your Pokéball?" I asked. "It's not the same… Pokéballs are nice and all, but nothing beats lounging around on a real couch, you know?" She said. She rubbed her snout against the seat and splayed her front paws across from her. Her stubby tail was wagging back and forth. "I was right. We really will get along." I said, smiling at Smokey's contentment.

Smokey slightly turned her head to look at me and opened her right eye. "I'm sure we will. You're pretty cool." She said, winking at me with a grin. "Aww, you're just the cutest. Come here!" I said, then dove onto the couch and gave Smokey a big hug. "Oof… you have an iron grip, you know? Not that I mind…" Smokey said, sighing contentedly into the couch seat.

I detached from Smokey and took a look at Hilbert's side of the table. Blade was sitting on his lap, while Ace was curled up on the couch. Both of them appeared to be asleep. Torch was leaning back on Ace's fur, inspecting an unfamiliar berry. He put the berry into the tuft of fur on his head then crossed his arms, reclining further into Ace's fur.

Hilbert himself was stroking Blade on the head with one hand, and finishing his burger in the other. I must have stared for too long, because he narrows his eyes at me. "Yes?" He asked, just having taken a bite out of the burger. "Nothing. Just enjoying the scenery." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. Hilbert put the last of his burger into his mouth and ran his fingers through his hair. "That felt good, by the way." He said, smirking at me.

"Oh, you felt that?" I asked. "It was hard not to. I woke up halfway through, but it felt so relaxing I ended up falling back asleep." Hilbert said, scratching his cheek. " _Cute._ " I thought, smiling. "What shampoo do you use? Your hair has no right to feel that soft and silky." I said. I took off my cap and set it beside Smokey, then ran my fingers through my own hair. "Seriously, your hair's like a bird's nest, and it feels like I'm running my fingers through a cloud. Spill it." I said, glaring at him. "It's nothing special. I just use whatever's in the bathroom. And conditioner." He said, running his hand through his hair.

"Seriously, it's so soft and fluffy. I want to give you a haircut and make a pillow out of your hair." I said, sighing. "That's incredibly creepy, but okay." Hilbert said, staring at me. "At least I don't want to make a voodoo doll out of it. Have you heard the story of Cheren's crazy ex?" I asked. "Lucy, right? They went out for like a month and she was acting like she was his wife." Hilbert said, closing his eyes.

"I went to his house one day and saw Lucy clinging to Cheren's arm while he was making breakfast. He saw me and shot me a look that screamed 'Get her off me!'." Hilbert said, chuckling. "And what did you do?" I said, chuckling back. "I did what any good friend would do. I turned around and closed the door behind me." He said, his chuckle evolving into a laugh. "You're the worst!" I said. The two of us laughed at Cheren's misery, while our starters stared at us with blank expressions.

Hilbert let out a deep yawn. Funnily, so did Blade. "I think it's time we went to bed." Hilbert said, then recalled his team into their Pokéballs. I looked over at Smokey and Willow and noticed their eyes were closed, their chests rhythmically rising and falling. "Yeah, my team's tuckered out. So am I, I guess." I said, stretching my arms up in the air as I yawned.

I returned my team to their Pokéballs and put them into my bag. Hilbert picked up the used burger wrappers, fries cartons and empty soda cups and arranged them neatly on the tray. "Diligent." I said, looking at the tray. "It's the least I can do. Let's go." Hilbert said, then put his cap back on. I put my cap back on as well, then we exited the restaurant.

I checked my Xtransceiver. "Midnight already?" I said, staring at the device on my wrist. "I'm beyond exhausted." Hilbert said. He was slightly hunched forward, his arms hanging listlessly in front of him. His already stern glare was even worse now, accentuated by the dark circles under his eyes. "You look the part. Let's head back to the Pokémon center before you actually collapse." I said.

"How are you still so chipper?" He asked. "I'm just really good at hiding it." I said, giggling. Admittedly, there were bags starting to form under my eyes, and I felt like I was constantly walking across quicksand. "Whatever. Let's go back to the Pokémon center." Hilbert said. I nodded at him and we slowly went back to the Pokémon center, the night sky illuminating our path.

The Pokémon center itself was still pretty busy. Other trainers dressed in casual wear were chilling by the lounge, while the nurse was busy tending to another trainer's Pokémon. " _I'm glad they're still full of energy._ " I thought, sighing to myself. " _Even walking on tiles makes my legs want to give out._ " I thought, looking down at my legs.

I glanced over at Hilbert. His slouch was getting even worse, and his eyes were barely even open. "Oh Arceus, you look like a zombie. Come here." I said, then slung his left arm over my shoulders. "Much… appreciated." Hilbert mumbled. "Come on, let's get to our room…" I said. I helped Hilbert up the stairs and slowly went inside our room.

Cheren was sitting by the desk, engrossed in a book. "You're finally back." He said. Cheren was dressed in his sleepwear; a plain black t-shirt and comfortable looking gray sweatpants. His glasses were on the desk in front of him. Bianca was fast asleep on her bed, her body under a blanket. "You're still awake?" I asked Cheren. "Couldn't sleep. I'm about to turn in." He said, then closed his book.

"Finally…" Hilbert mumbled. He lifted his arm off my shoulders and hobbled over to his bunk. He immediately took off his jacket and pants, revealing his muscle shirt and shorts. "You're way too comfortable undressing in front of people." I said, glaring at him. "I don't care. I'm sleepy." He said. Hilbert threw his clothes up onto his bunk and climbed up. Without a moment to spare, his snores began to echo around the room.

Cheren sighed. "Out like a light. That's Hilbert for you." Cheren said. "He deserves it." I said, giggling. Cheren turned to look at me. "I'm going to sleep too. Leaving early tomorrow, after all." Cheren said, then rose from his seat. He went over to his bunk and lied down, wrapping a blanket over his body.

I looked up at Hilbert on the top bunk, and he was splayed out on the bed. His blanket wasn't even on him, and he was still wearing his cap. I sighed and slowly climbed up to his bed. " _Gently, gently…_ " I repeated in my head. I took Hilbert's cap off, making absolutely sure that I wouldn't wake him up, and placed it beside his head, near the wall. I pulled the covers up over his body and went back down the ladder.

" _Alright, time to change…_ " I thought, then went into the bathroom to change. After a couple of minutes, I emerged from the bathroom in my usual sleepwear. I quietly climbed up the bunk so as to not wake Bianca up and laid my head on the pillow. " _So soft…_ " I thought, then pulled the blanket up over my body. Within seconds, I was fast asleep.

* * *

" _Quit it, Brawly! You're being a bad influence!_ " _Roxanne said, glaring at Brawly with her arms folded across her chest. Brawly was poking a patch of grass with a long stick as he giggled to himself. "Don't worry! Steven's here, isn't he?" He said, pointing at Steven with his other hand. "If any wild Pokémon come out, I'll battle them off. Just don't expect me to be quick about it." He said, smiling at the beldum beside him. "Bel…" Beldum beeped._

_Calem was standing beside Roxanne, staring at Brawly with a concerned look on his face. "Yeah, cut it out. We can't expect Steven to save the day all the time." He said, sighing. "Don't worry! This'll be fun, you killjoys!" Brawly said, blowing a raspberry at Calem and Roxanne. Roxanne groaned in irritation, while Calem just sighed again._

_I was standing beside Steven, watching the stick prod into the grass. "I think it's moving…" I muttered. Steven looked down at me. "Good eye, Hilly." He said, giving me a warm smile. "Stop calling me Hilly." I said, glaring back at him. "Like I said before, beat me in a Pokémon battle and I'll stop calling you that." Steven said, his smile turning into a smirk. "I don't even have any Pokémon yet. This is unfair." I said, crossing my arms._

_Calem walked up to me and patted me on the back. "Don't worry, Hilbert. We're in the same boat." He said. "My parents keep saying they'll give me my starter Pokémon, but every time I ask they say they're having problems at the daycare." He continued. Steven raised an eyebrow. "That sounds… unfortunate." He said, clearing his throat._

" _Steven! Can you stop Brawly before he does anything stupid?!" Roxanne shouted. "Grumpig would fly before that happened, Roxy! He's too much for me." Steven said, snickering at her. "Ugh! You're supposed to set a good example." Roxanne huffed, glaring at Steven. "I am. I'm letting Brawly learn why you shouldn't be quite literally poking the beedrill's nest." He said, then looked straight at Brawly._

_The tall grass started to shake, some of the grass flying out of the ground. Brawly dropped the stick and backed away, a satisfied expression on his face. "Look! Something's coming out!" He said, pointing at the grass. The grass suddenly stopped shaking, and a spiky-furred Pokémon with fur colored both brown and white popped out of the grass. "A zigzagoon." Steven said. "Bel…" Beldum beeped._

_The zigzagoon looked at Brawly, who was still staring at it. "It's so cute! Can I catch it? Can I catch it?!" Brawly said, looking at Steven as he pointed at the zigzagoon. The zigzagoon tilted its head in confusion, then went back into the grass. Brawly looked back at the zigzagoon, only to find that it was no longer there. He hung his head and let his arms fall listlessly in front of him. "Aww…" He muttered._

_Steven let out a hearty laugh. "Hahaha! That's enough of that. Come on, let's head back to the city." Steven said, then started walking back to the city. Calem sighed and followed behind him. Roxanne, however, went over to Brawly. "You idiot! You could have gotten hurt!" Roxanne said, her cheeks puffing out of her face. "S'ok. Steven was there, and so were the rest of you! 'Sides, it's not the first time I've gotten into a scrap with a Pokémon!" Brawly said, flashing Roxanne a toothy smile._

_Roxanne groaned and looked away from him. "You're so childish." She said. "You're too stuck up!" Brawly said, looking away from her. The two of them walked back into the city, not meeting each other's gazes. I sighed as I watched their routine. "Seriously…" I muttered, then followed behind them back into Rustboro City._

"Mmm…" I moaned. " _A memory like that, showing up in my dreams…_ " I thought. I stretched my arms to the side and my legs upwards, but ended up pushing something soft off of me. I slowly opened my eyes and saw that there was a blanket covering my body. " _I don't remember putting a blanket on… did I_?" I thought.

I pushed the blanket off of my chest and onto my legs and sat up. I glanced to the left and saw my cap sitting beside me. I stared at it, wide-eyed. " _I'm almost completely positive I left that on._ " I thought. I shook my head and stretched my arms up high, regaining some of the feeling in my muscles.

I looked over at my Xtransceiver. " _Noontime?!_ " I thought, staring at the time. " _I was out for that long?!_ " I thought, panicking internally. I looked over to Hilda's bed and saw her splayed out on the bed, lying on her back. " _At least I'm not the only one._ " I thought, sighing in relief.

I pushed the blanket to the side and went down the ladder. The hardwood floor didn't creak, instead giving a satisfying bump as my feet touched the ground. " _Nothing like my room._ " I thought. I turned to look at Cheren's bed and saw it perfectly made. His belongings were absent. " _He must have left already. Now…_ " I thought, turning over to Bianca's bed. Her bed was made as well, and just like Cheren's, her belongings were nowhere to be seen. " _Yep. Just us two._ " I thought.

I climbed up the ladder to Hilda's bed. " _She always moves when she sleeps._ " I thought, sighing. Hilda was dressed in her sleepwear: a baggy, white t-shirt and white leggings. Her hair was undone, and was a mess on her pillow. Her eyes were closed, and for whatever reason, there was a contented smile on her face. " _Nevermind the drool leaking out the corner of her mouth…_ " I thought, then went back down the ladder.

I went back up to my bed and got my pants, then put them on. I put my sneakers on, then looked at my jacket and shook my head. " _I'm not leaving the Pokémon center, anyway._ " I thought, then quietly left the room.

"Urgh, that's bright…" I muttered the moment I stepped out of the room. The LED lights lighting up the Pokémon center nearly blinded me as I stepped out, forcing me to rapidly blink to adjust to the light. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I peered over the railing and looked around the Pokémon center.

Most trainers were in their traveling attire already, and some were having lunch by the lounge. I walked down the stairs and as I passed by the nurse, she turned to me and greeted me. "Good morning!" She said, giving me a polite service smile. I nodded at her. "Good morning." I replied, even though it was already noontime.

I went on over to the vendor and bought two bottles of Moomoo milk. The vendor raised an eyebrow at my attire, but a single glare was enough for him to snap out of it. I paid for the drinks and went back upstairs, the nurse politely smiling and nodding at me again as I passed by her.

I quietly slipped back into the room, making sure the door didn't creak. I sat by the desk and tore out a sheet of paper from the notepad on it. Taking a pencil out of the drawer, I scribbled a note that said:

"As thanks for last night.

Enjoy. -Hilbert"

Satisfied with the content of the note, I placed one of the Moomoo milk bottles over it to weigh it down. I opened the other Moomoo milk bottle and quickly chugged it down, not stopping to savor the taste. "Refreshing." I muttered. After I finished drinking the beverage, I placed the empty Moomoo milk bottle in the recycling bin beside the desk.

" _I probably shouldn't disturb her. I'll step out for a bit…_ " I thought, then went into the bathroom. I stripped my sleepwear off and stepped into the shower, letting the hot water run across my body and loosen up my tense muscles from the previous day. I lathered an almost excessive amount of my favorite shampoo in my hair - which, incidentally, was advertised as great for making your hair nice and fluffy - and scrubbed my body clean with a bar of soap allegedly made from Pecha berries.

After ensuring that my body was clean and the fatigue was washed right off, I stepped out of the shower and wiped myself down with a towel. I scrubbed the towel across my hair, making absolutely sure that it was dry. Afterwards, I wore the towel over my waist. I stepped out of the bathroom, instantly shivering from the room's relatively cold temperature. "Urgh..." I mumbled.

I slowly made my way up to my bed and got my bag. " _I need to go to the laundromat._ " I thought. I was down to my last set of muscle shirts, shorts, underwear and socks. " _Or buy more clothes. But that would be heavy._ " I thought, sighing. I slipped my underclothes on and wore my jacket, pants and shoes over them. " _At least these can last me a whole week. Months for the shoes._ " I thought.

I put the cap over my head and tucked the now-fluffy hair under it. Some of the hair beside my head managed to escape, however. " _All the time…_ " I said, sighing. I took one last glance at Hilda, who was still sound asleep, then slung my bag over my shoulders. I quietly left the room, making sure not to wake her up.

Once again, the nurse politely smiled and nodded at me as I passed by her. " _Are they trained to do that…?_ " I wondered, then left the Pokémon center. Compared to the frozen hell I was subjected to last night, this temperature felt wonderful. I fully unzipped my jacket, letting it hang loose around my shoulders. My black undershirt looked almost transparent in the sunlight.

" _Alright, let's get some lunch…_ " I thought, then walked in the direction of the bakery. Fortunately, the bakery was right beside the trainer's school, so I didn't have to walk that far. I passed by the trainer's school, my hands in my pockets, then looked into the bakery through the window. The difference between the bakery last night and now was literally night and day. It was bustling; every table filled with customers. There was even wait staff serving the customers their meals.

I stopped in my tracks, watching the wait staff and customers mill about the bakery. " _Is this supposed to be the same place we were at last night?!_ " I thought, gawking at the scene. One of the wait staff met my gaze and gave me a concerned expression, so I shook my head and went inside.

"Urgh, this place has way too many people…" I muttered, then went to the back of the line of people waiting to order their food. The owner seemed to be manning the register, entertaining the customers as she took their orders. One of the cooks popped out every now and then to bring the food to the waiters, who in turn brought the food to the customers.

Eventually, it was my turn to have my order taken. "Welcome to- Oh, you're the boy from last night!" The owner said, giving me a smile that reached all the way to her eyes. She gave off the vibe of being a grandma that wanted nothing more than to feed you. " _That's probably why people come here so much._ " I thought. "Mm. I'd like to order two ham and cheese sandwiches." I said.

"Good choice! Our customers love those." The owner said, scribbling onto a notepad. " _Not only is this a bakery, it's also a diner. What a versatile establishment._ " I thought, looking at the sandwiches on display. "Two packs of sugar cookies, too." I said, my gaze falling on a pack of sugar cookies. "For your friend?" She asked. "Yes. I'm getting us lunch." I said.

"Such a good friend." The owner said, giving me another grandmotherly smile. "Mm." I grunted. " _Ah, right. I should get lunch for our partners too._ " I thought. "Five smaller ham and cheese sandwiches too." I said. "For your Pokémon?" She asked. I nodded. "So considerate! Coming right up." She said, giving me a smile.

The owner tapped a few buttons on a calculator on the counter and wrote something on the notepad. "Alright, your order comes up to 1650 Pokédollars." She said, looking up from the notepad. I fished my wallet out from my bag and gave her the exact amount. "Thank you for the exact amount!" She said, sliding it into the register.

Around a minute later, a cook came out of the kitchen and brought two small paper lunch boxes, and five even smaller ones. The owner smiled at the cook and took out two packs of sugar cookies from the display and placed my order in a paper bag. The owner handed me the paper bag and my receipt. "Thanks for coming!" She said, giving me a warm smile. I politely nodded back. "Thanks for the food." I said, tipping my cap. I turned on my heel and left the bakery, cradling the paper bag in my arms.

Once again, the nurse politely smiled and nodded at me as I passed by her. " _This is going to be one of those things that you can't help but notice every time._ " I thought, sighing to myself. " _Truly, ignorance is bliss._ " I thought. I quietly slipped back into the room and saw Hilda sitting by the desk. Her elbow was resting on the desk, allowing her hand to cup her cheek. She looked exceptionally groggy; the dark circles on her eyes from last night not having faded. She was still in her sleepwear, so she probably just woke up.

"You're back." Hilda said, turning to face me. "Did you sleep well?" I asked, then placed the paper bag on the desk beside her arm. "I know we slept for twelve hours, but I sure don't feel like I did." She said, sighing. "What's in the bag?" She asked, her gaze turning to the paper bag.

"Lunch." I said, then took the two bigger lunch boxes and sugar cookies out from the bag. "Smells great, but I'm still sleepy." Hilda said, then yawned. "Thanks for the milk, by the way." She said, looking at the half-drunk bottle of Moomoo milk beside her arm. "Just repaying the favor. Let's eat." I said.

I pulled up a chair and sat beside Hilda, then passed a lunch box and pack of sugar cookies over to her. "I hope you got something good. Preferably something you cooked yourself." Hilda said, staring at the lunch box. "Unless we can find a kitchen somewhere, I can only cook for you back at Nuvema." I said, sighing. I opened the lunchbox, taking the ham and cheese sandwich into my hands. Hilda did the same and bit into the sandwich, slowly chewing as if to savor the taste.

"This is pretty tasty." Hilda said, staring at the sandwich. "Where'd you get it?" She asked, turning to face me. "The bakery from last night." I said, looking at the sugar cookies. "No way. They serve sandwiches too?" She asked. "Yes. Maybe they only serve it during lunch." I guessed.

"Was it as empty as it was last night?" Hilda asked, then took another bite out of the sandwich. "The opposite. All the seats were full, and I stood in line for like ten minutes." I said, then sunk my teeth into the sandwich. " _Wow. This is quite good. I'll have to ask for the recipe._ " I thought, staring at the sandwich. "Seriously? Huh." She said. "There were even waiters and waitresses. It was really busy." I explained.

Hilda put a finger to her chin. "Maybe it's because we were there so late at night. When does the old lady sleep…?" She trailed off, then bit into the sandwich again. "Beats me. The food is good, though." I said, then took another bite out of the sandwich. "It really does. I'd say it's just about as good as yours." She said. "You're flattering me. There's no way my food matches up to the owner's." I said, turning away from her.

"Blushing again? Come on." Hilda said, then poked my ribcage. "Ugh." I groaned. "Still, thanks for buying breakfast - lunch? - for us." She said. I turned to face her, and she was smiling widely with her eyes closed. I poked her on the forehead, causing her to open her eyes and pout at me. "Dummy." She huffed, crossing her arms and turning away from me. "Adorable." I said, snickering. "Hmph." She said, then went back to eating her sandwich, still not turning to face me.

The two of us ate our sandwiches in silence. "That hit the spot." Hilda said, rubbing her belly. "Surprisingly filling. And we have dessert." I said, looking at the packs of sugar cookies. "Hey, Hilbert." Hilda said, looking at me. "Hm?" I grunted. "Kiss me." She said, moving her face close to me and puckering her lips. "No. Your breath smells like ham, cheese and morning breath." I said, pushing her face away. "Boo. A pretty girl just asked you to kiss her, and that's what you say?" She said, flipping her hair with her hand.

I blinked and stared at her. "Did you describe yourself as a pretty girl?" I said, staring at her face. Hilda must have been embarrassed, because she turned away from me and crossed her arms. "It's called self confidence!" She said. I dryly laughed. "For what it's worth, I do think you're pretty." I said.

Hilda turned back at me. "Really…?" She asked, staring at me. "Stop staring. It's creepy. And yes, I do." I said, turning away from her. "Then are you going to kiss me?" She asked, poking me in the ribcage. "Argh! Brush your teeth first, you idiot." I groaned, recoiling from the shock.

Hilda giggled. "Score. A perfect way to start the day!" She said, raising her fist in the air in mock triumph. "Suddenly, I'm doubting the efficacy of scaring you by threatening to kiss you. Did that ever work?" I asked, sighing. "Maybe, maybe not." Hilda said, giggling.

I sighed. "And here I was, feeling bad for straddling you." I said. "Don't get me wrong, that was still horrible. If you did that to any other girl, you'd probably be sent to juvie." Hilda said. I turned to look at her, and she was frowning at me. "Yeah. I crossed the line." I said, sighing. "I'm sorry, really." I said, lowering my head to her.

"Just don't do it again, okay? I trust you with my life, so don't take advantage of it." Hilda said. "Noted. Kiss and make up?" I said. "Literally, or figuratively?" Hilda asked, raising an eyebrow. "Whatever you want. As long as it makes you happy." I said, turning to face her.

"Fine, kiss and make up." Hilda said, then extended her hand out in front of me. I took her hand and shook it. "I'm sorry." I said, shaking her hand. "It's fine, I forgive you. Now quit beating yourself up over it." She said, then broke the handshake. "Thanks." I said, glancing at her. "Don't mention it!" She replied, giving me a warm smile. We sat there in silence for a couple of moments.

"Wanna go around the city?" Hilda asked, breaking the silence. I nodded. "Sure. There are some chores I need to do, anyway." I said. "Like?" She asked, rising from her seat. "I need to go to a laundromat and get my clothes washed. After that, I was thinking of buying a portable stove." I said. Hilda's eyes widened at the word 'portable stove'. "So that you can cook wherever you want?!" She asked.

"Yes. So that we can save money on meals." I said. "Traveling around Unova and being able to taste your cooking?! It's like a dream come true." Hilda said, cupping her cheeks in her hands. "You should get your laundry done, too." I said. "Yeah, I was going to. I need to stock up on other supplies too." She said.

"What other supplies?" I asked. "Girl stuff. You know." Hilda said, glancing downwards. "Got it." I said, gulping. "Glad you can take a hint." She said, smiling at me. "Indeed. Go take a shower, you smell horrible." I said. Hilda raised her arm and sniffed her underarms. "Yuck. Be right back." She said, then rushed into the bathroom with her bag.

A few minutes later, Hilda came out of the shower, dressed in her traveling outfit. Her hair was still wrapped in a towel, however. "Let's wait for my hair to dry and we can leave. By the way, is there still something in the bag?" Hilda said, pointing to the paper bag. "Oh, right. I almost forgot." I said, then took the five smaller lunch boxes out of the bag.

"Five of them? Are they for our Pokémon?" Hilda asked, walking up to the desk. "Yes. I figured I'd get them a meal while I was at the bakery." I said. "So thoughtful!" Hilda said, pinching my cheeks. "Just send your team out already." I groaned. Hilda rifled through her bag and pulled out two Pokéballs, while I took out three from mine. We pressed the middle buttons on the Pokéballs, sending our team out in front of us.

"Yes, Hilbert?" "Hilbert." "Yo, Hilbert!" My team asked in unison. Blade was looking around the room, looking slightly drowsy. Ace was standing at attention, staring at me. Torch was stretching his arms up high in the air, a big smile on his face. "Did you need something?" Blade asked, looking at me.

I nodded at Hilda and took three sandwiches from the lunchboxes. I placed one in Blade's hands, another one on the floor in front of Ace and one in Torch's hands. "Sweet, more grub!" Torch said, then immediately dug into the sandwich. "Appreciated." Ace said, then lowered his head to eat the sandwich.

Blade looked at the sandwich and smiled at me. "Thanks, Hilbert. You're the best." He said, giving me a smile. "Eat up. You must be hungry." I said. "Human food is great! My old trainer always gave me those yucky pellets." Torch said, thoroughly sinking his teeth into the sandwich.

"The people at the habitat gave me something similar. Said it was good for us…" Blade trailed off, then bit into the sandwich again. "The chief gave us human food whenever he could. Though, we usually subsisted on berries." Ace said, taking bites out of the sandwich.

"I'm glad I can finally understand you three." I said. "So am I." Blade replied. "Yeah, it's great!" Torch said, raising the sandwich in the air. "It's convenient." Ace said. "Ace, is your voice always that deep?" I asked. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was born this way. Though, I suppose other lillipup in the tribe say my voice is deeper than theirs." Ace said.

Blade looked at Ace. "Huh… I guess you're right. I've met other lillipup before, and Ace's voice is a lot deeper than theirs." He said. "Yeah! The other lillipup I've met had really cute voices." Torch commented. Ace furrowed his brow and looked down at the sandwich. "This is humiliating." He said. "I think it's cool. You don't hear many lillipup with voices as cool as yours." Blade said. "Totally! It's like you're one of a kind!" Torch said, giving Ace a cheeky grin.

Ace looked at Blade, then at Torch, then at me. "I… suppose…" He trailed off, sounding embarrassed. "Alright, let's stop teasing Ace. How are you feeling, Torch?" I asked. "I'm feeling great! Compared to my old trainer, you're practically a saint." He said, looking wistful.

Blade looked concerned. "Why did he release you…?" He asked. "I'm not sure… He sent the three of us out of our Pokéballs one day, then shattered them in front of our faces. Other trainers were doing it too." He said, drawing circles on the floor. "I see… sorry for bringing it up." Blade said, waddling over to Torch and patting him on the back. "It's alright! Hilbert's a really nice person." Torch said, giving both of us a cheeky grin.

I smiled at him, then looked over at Hilda. "Your team's a pretty lively bunch." She said, chuckling at the noise my team was making. "I suppose they are. Torch _is_ rather loud." I said. "Compared to them, Smokey and Willow are practically the most relaxed pair on the planet." Hilda said, giggling.

We waited for our Pokémon to finish eating, then returned them to their Pokéballs. Hilda stretched her arms up high, then turned to look at me. "Alright, let's get our chores done and then relax. Want to catch a movie?" She said. "Sure. The trainer's school has a nice fiction category, if you're interested." I replied.

Hilda nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Let's go!"

* * *

"How much longer is this supposed to take?" I asked Hilbert while staring at the washing machine in front of me. "Just a few more minutes. Then we need to dry them." Hilbert said. He was sitting beside me, staring at the laundromat in front of him. "This is taking forever." I said, sighing. I slouched forward, put my elbows on my knees and held my chin with my hands. "At least we're not hand washing our clothes." Hilbert said. "Ugh." I groaned.

"What movie do you want to watch?" Hilbert asked, turning to look at me. "Hmm… maybe an action movie." I said. "An action movie? I think one is premiering at the theater today." He said. "Really? What's it called?" I asked. "I think it's called _Way of the Expert Belt_. It's supposed to feature a rivalry between a throh and a sawk." He replied.

I stared at the clothes spinning around in the washing machine. "Sounds kind of corny. Let's watch it!" I said, giving Hilbert a smile. "I saw the trailers on TV. They weren't bad." He said. "That means they aren't good, either." I said. "I suppose. Maybe I'll buy a portable DVD player too." Hilbert said, looking up at the ceiling.

"You might need to upgrade to a bigger bag. There's no way your bag can fit your clothes, a portable stove and a portable DVD player." I said, poking at the sling of his bag. "Portable DVD players aren't that big. Plus, we need to buy a TM case too…" Hilbert said, sighing.

I sighed along with him. "I guess we need to go shopping today. Ugh, they make Pokémon journeys look so easy in the movies." I said. "That they do. At least the Pokémon centers are kind enough to let us sleep there for free." Hilbert said. "Yeah, but we need to bring our own toiletries, which I guess isn't super unreasonable…" I said, yawning.

"We could check into a hotel. There's one right next to the Gym." Hilbert said, looking out the window. I turned to look out the window and sure enough, there was a hotel there. "Yeah, but that costs money. And even with the stipend Dr. Fennel gave us, we don't really want to be wasting money…" I said, sighing.

Hilbert rifled through his wallet. "How much you got left?" I asked. "Just under 20000 Pokédollars. We probably need to find a way to make money." Hilbert said. "We could always get reward money from beating other trainers, but then if we'd lose, then we have to pay them too…" I said, putting a finger to my chin. "Eventually we'll run out of trainers to battle, so we'll need to find some sort of income." Hilbert said, then put his wallet back in his bag.

"Then again, we could probably live off this money for around two more weeks. As long as we're only spending money on food, items for our Pokémon and laundry." Hilbert said. "So we need to be frugal… got it." I said, sighing. "If we can get a Pokémon that we can ride on or fly, we could make quick trips back to Nuvema for free meals." Hilbert said.

I shook my head. "As tempting as it sounds to eat your cooking, the point of our journey is to stay on the road as much as possible, right? Going back to Nuvema every day would defeat the purpose of our journey." I said. Hilbert's eyes widened at my words, but he nodded his head. "I suppose. Maybe I'll abstain from buying a portable stove and make sandwiches everyday instead." He said.

"I guess. But then bringing around all those sandwiches would bulk up our bags way too much…" I said. "That's also true. Damn, there really is no good solution…" Hilbert said, sighing. The washing machines beeped, and one of the lights turned off. "Looks like it's done washing. Let's wait for our clothes to dry and we can go catch that movie." Hilbert said.

Hilbert went up to the washing machines and pressed a few buttons, then they sprung back to life again. Nodding at the machines, he went back to his seat beside me. "Are you sure we can spend money on watching a movie? It seems kind of wasteful." I said. "We'll figure out a way to make more. I promise." Hilbert said, looking me in the eyes. I sighed. "If you say so. Maybe we could get a paid internship somewhere…" I said.

"Probably. Maybe we can ask the professor for an allowance, since she's the one sending us on this journey." Hilbert said. "That might work… but I don't know. I'll probably look into some internship programs." I said. "We're going to the trainer's school after the movie, right? Maybe there are some fliers there." I continued.

Hilbert looked up at the ceiling. "I do recall the bulletin board being full of posters. Maybe there's something there." He said. "Or maybe I could ask Mr. Rayne…" I trailed off. "The veteran from Accumula? I suppose he might know something. He's probably our best shot." Hilbert said, nodding.

I nodded back. "I'll give him a call later. For now, let's just relax." I said, stretching my arms up high. "We are supposed to be taking a break today, after all." Hilbert said. "And here we are, doing chores…" I groaned. "Saturdays are the best day to do chores, after all." Hilbert said. "More like the best time to relax. Though I guess we are doing both." I said.

"I suppose. Let's worry about money issues later. I'm sure we can get enough from reward money." Hilbert said. "I guess… let's just check out the trainer's school, just in case." I said. "We will." Hilbert said. I gave him a smile, and he gave me a small one back.

After a few minutes, our clothes were finally dry and ready to be worn again. "Hilda, you know how to fold clothes, right?" Hilbert asked. "...No." I admitted. "Once we get back to Nuvema, I'm teaching you all there is to know about household chores." He said, sighing deeply at me. I winced. "Can I at least fold my underwear?" I said, putting on the lillipup eyes. Surprisingly, Hilbert glared back at me. "Do you know how to?" He asked. I slowly shook my head. "I just crumple them into a ball…" I said, sighing.

Hilbert deeply exhaled. "That slowly damages the fabric over time. I'll teach you so that I don't have to do it all the time." He said. "But you're going to see my panties…" I said, sighing. "Fine, I'll demonstrate on mine." Hilbert said, turning away from me. " _Considerate._ " I thought, chuckling to myself.

After the surprise lesson on folding underwear, Hilbert folded our clothes and put them into our bags. "I hope you got that." Hilbert said. "I'll never forget it. You wear too much black." I said, snickering. "And you wear too much white." He said, glaring at me. I flinched. "They're the cheapest ones, okay?!" I huffed, pouting at him.

Hilbert rolled his eyes. "Sure. And I won't comment on the bewear design either." He said, smirking at me. "Shut up, they're cute." I snapped. "Sure, sure. Let's go to the theater." He said, snickering at me. "Hmph." I groaned. We walked side by side to the movie theater, not meeting each other's gazes.

"That's an impossibly huge line." I said, gawking at the line to the counter. "I didn't expect the movie would be this popular." Hilbert said, his own eyes widening. "Do you still want to watch it?" I asked, looking at him. "We might as well. Movie theater lines tend to move fast." Hilbert said. We went to the back of the line and sure enough, the line moved extremely quickly.

Within minutes, it was our turn at the counter. "Two tickets for _The Way of the Expert Belt_ , please." Hilbert said. "That will be 1700 Pokédollars." She said. We paid the cashier and went over to the concessionaires to buy a big bag of popcorn. After we made our purchases, we sat on an empty bench while waiting for the screening time.

Eventually, a crowd of people poured out of the theater. We got in line again to enter the theater, and made our way to our seats at the center of the theater. "Pretty comfy seats." I said. "Yeah." Hilbert said, then shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "Save it for the movie!" I said, batting his hand away. Hilbert snickered at me.

The movie lasted two hours. It was a classic action movie, where the throh and sawk were students of rival dojos. They came to blows at every twist and turn, eventually becoming the best of friends. They merged their dojos together after defeating their masters, teaching students their own combined martial art. " _Better than I expected, if a little cheesy._ " I thought as the movie ended.

Hilbert and I walked out of the movie theater and saw another long line of people waiting to get in. "What did you think?" Hilbert asked as we walked away from the theater. "It was pretty good. Cheesy, but I loved the way the Pokémon acted." I said. "I found it compelling and easy to watch and understand. Apparently Pokéstar Studios produced it, and they're known for putting out excellent movies around Unova." He said.

"Oh, I've heard of them. They made the original Brycen Man, right?" I said. Hilbert nodded. "They're supposed to be rebooting the series. I'm excited to see it." He said, looking up at the sky. "It's getting pretty late." He said, then checked his Xtransceiver. "It's 4 PM. Let's go to the trainer's school." He said.

I nodded. "Let's go." I said, then we walked to the trainer's school.

The trainer's school was still pretty busy, and there seemed to be a class going on. "The bulletin board and fiction section are over here." Hilbert said, pointing to the right of the lobby. Sure enough, there was a large bookshelf and a bulletin board filled with all sorts of posters.

I walked over to the bulletin board and took a look. I looked up and down the bulletin board for anything about internships. "Hmm… There's nothing about an internship. All of these are just about classes or recruitment drives." I said. "That's a shame." Hilbert said, standing beside me. "All these job fliers are meant for people who aren't traveling the country." I said, sighing.

"Let's just pass the time. Here, the fiction section is pretty good." Hilbert said, then turned to look at the bookshelf. "Let's have a look." I said, then walked over to the bookshelf. I scanned the spines of the books, looking for any notable titles. "Wow… they have a pretty good selection." I said, then pulled out one book and passed it to Hilbert. "Here, read this." I said.

Hilbert looked at the cover of the book. " _Manor of Mystery?_ I'm guessing this is a mystery novel." He said. "It is. It's pretty short, but I like it. I think you would, too." I said, then pulled out another book. "I'm going to be reading this one." I said, then showed the cover to Hilbert. " _A Deerling's Lament_. Even I've heard of that one." Hilbert said. "It's supposed to be a follow up to _A Sawsbuck's Elegy_. That one's one of my favorites." I said.

"I know. You made me read it last week." Hilbert said. "And what did you think?" I said, smirking at him. "It was… good. I deny crying after reading it." Hilbert said, glaring at me. "Those tissues say otherwise. Anyway, let's quiet down." I said, then sat close to Hilbert.

"Comfortable, aren't we." He said, sighing. I changed my orientation on the bench and leaned my back against Hilbert's side. "Yep. Now shush." I said, then opened the book. Hilbert groaned and opened the book I gave him as well.

A couple of hours and a few dozen books later, Hilbert and I left the trainer's school. "That's the last time I'm ever going into a library with you." Hilbert said, dark circles under his eyes. "Come on, it was fun! You even cried after one of them." I said, poking him in the side. "Why did they have to do that to the poor sawsbuck…?" Hilbert muttered.

"There, there. Let's get some dinner, okay? We're leaving early tomorrow." I said, grabbing onto Hilbert's sleeve. "Fine. Not Burger Champ, though." He said. "Fine, fine. It's not good for us, anyway. Let's go to the bakery and get some sandwiches!" I said, dragging Hilbert by the sleeve to over to the bakery.

The old lady greeted us as we made our way to the counter. "Welcome back!" She said. "Hi! We'd like two bacon and egg sandwiches, and five smaller ones for our Pokémon." I said, giving her a bright smile. "Coming right up. Your friend seems tired." The old lady said. "I'm fine. Just sleepy. And tired." Hilbert said, staring out into space.

The old lady laughed, placing a hand to her cheek. "Make sure he gets plenty of rest. Your total's 1750 Pokédollars, by the way." She said. Hilbert and I split the bill and left the bakery, sandwiches in hand.

The nurse politely smiled and nodded at us as we passed by her. I smiled back at her, while Hilbert just looked exhausted. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Nothing. I don't want you to find out." He said, staring straight ahead. "Okay…?" I trailed off, curious, but not curious enough as to press the issue.

We changed into our sleepwear the moment we got back to the room. "This feels so good… freshly washed clothes are a gift from Arceus itself." I said, walking out of the bathroom. "How do those bewear panties feel?" Hilbert said, snickering at me from the desk. "Wonderful, thank you very much." I said, glaring at him.

Hilbert passed me a sandwich. "Eat up." He said. "Hmph." I groaned at him. He smirked at me then sent his team out on the floor. The three of them looked confused, then Hilbert gave them their sandwiches. Immediately, they dug in.

I followed Hilbert's lead and sent Smokey and Willow out in front of me. "Heya." "H-Hilda…" Smokey and Willow said. "Hi. Here's your dinner." I said, then gave them their sandwiches. "Mmm, grub. Thanks." "Thank you…" Willow said, then took small bites out of the sandwich. Smokey said, then dug into her sandwich.

After taking a bite, Smokey stopped and sniffed the sandwich. "Is that… bacon?" She asked, looking up at me. "Oh, right…" I said, gulping. " _I just fed a tepig bacon. Oh Arceus._ " I thought, grimacing. "Meh. It tastes good, so whatever." Smokey said, then went back to taking bites out of the sandwich. I stared at Smokey, who seemed to be wholeheartedly enjoying the sandwich. " _Okay… I won't ask._ " I thought.

The seven of us ate our dinner in silence. At least, my team did. Hilbert seemed to be having a lively conversation with his team. "Hey, guys." I said, breaking the silence on my side. "What do you think about those three?" I asked. Smokey and Willow both looked up at me.

"They're pretty cool. Blade's a nice guy, Ace is kind of tough, while Torch is really loud." Smokey said, splaying her arms out on the floor. "Ace is sc-scary… but I think Blade is really nice." Willow said, looking down at the floor. "I see. Are you and Torch close, Willow?" I asked. "I-I guess? We never really talked much, but we had to endure our old trainer's commands together, so…" Willow said, trailing off.

I nodded. "Thanks for sharing, Willow." I said, giving her a big smile. "It's no problem…" She said, then leaned back against the bed. "I was thinking of catching another Pokémon tomorrow. What do you two think?" I asked. "As long as they're cool, I'm cool." Smokey said. "I hope they're not sc-scary…" Willow whimpered.

Soon enough, it was time to go to bed. I climbed up to my bed, and Hilbert climbed up to his. "Good night, Hilbert. Sure you don't want me to sleep beside you?" I said, sticking my tongue out at him from my bed. He glared at me from his. "I would like to wake up not suffocating, for once." He said. "Fair enough. See you tomorrow!" I said. "Good night." Hilbert said, then laid his head on the pillow. I laid my head on mine and pulled the covers up over my body, then closed my eyes.

" _Alright, back on the road! Let's do this!_ "


End file.
